Russian court verdict puts an end to death penalty
Source: Agencies |
November 20, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
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RUSSIA'S Constitutional Court yesterday effectively abolished the death penalty, extending indefinitely a 13-year-old moratorium on capital punishment.
Russia has not executed a criminal since 1996, though a myriad of contradictory legal decisions have helped stoke a heated debate about whether to return the punishment for especially barbarous crimes.
"The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation recognized that after January 1, 2010, use of the death penalty in Russia is not possible," the court, which is based in Russia's former capital St Petersburg, said in a statement.
Valery Zorkin, the head of the court, announced the decision after 17 judges deliberated for 45 minutes in the 18th Century building that used to house the Tsar's senate and synod. "I consider that this decision means the abolition of the death penalty," said court spokeswoman Anna Malysheva.
Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev, a former corporate lawyer, has pushed for the abolition of the death penalty which, despite the moratorium, is still part of Russia's criminal code.
Resuming executions
Polls have shown that between 65 and 74 percent of Russians favor resuming executions, carried out before the moratorium by a pistol shot to the back of the head.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a Soviet dissident and one of Russia's best-known human rights campaigners, welcomed the court verdict. "I hope the death penalty does not return in Russia, even though the majority of the population and the majority of lawmakers support it," she said.
Concerns about the return of the death penalty were raised because of a legal loophole under which the punishment cannot be applied until the introduction of jury trials in all regions. But the Constitutional Court dismissed those concerns.
"The introduction of jurors over the entire territory of the Russian Federation does not create the possibility to apply the death penalty," it said in its statement.
Late President Boris Yeltsin in May 1996 ordered officials to move toward scrapping the death penalty and Moscow committed itself to ending capital punishment in April 1997, when it signed a protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights.
Russia has not executed a criminal since 1996, though a myriad of contradictory legal decisions have helped stoke a heated debate about whether to return the punishment for especially barbarous crimes.
"The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation recognized that after January 1, 2010, use of the death penalty in Russia is not possible," the court, which is based in Russia's former capital St Petersburg, said in a statement.
Valery Zorkin, the head of the court, announced the decision after 17 judges deliberated for 45 minutes in the 18th Century building that used to house the Tsar's senate and synod. "I consider that this decision means the abolition of the death penalty," said court spokeswoman Anna Malysheva.
Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev, a former corporate lawyer, has pushed for the abolition of the death penalty which, despite the moratorium, is still part of Russia's criminal code.
Resuming executions
Polls have shown that between 65 and 74 percent of Russians favor resuming executions, carried out before the moratorium by a pistol shot to the back of the head.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a Soviet dissident and one of Russia's best-known human rights campaigners, welcomed the court verdict. "I hope the death penalty does not return in Russia, even though the majority of the population and the majority of lawmakers support it," she said.
Concerns about the return of the death penalty were raised because of a legal loophole under which the punishment cannot be applied until the introduction of jury trials in all regions. But the Constitutional Court dismissed those concerns.
"The introduction of jurors over the entire territory of the Russian Federation does not create the possibility to apply the death penalty," it said in its statement.
Late President Boris Yeltsin in May 1996 ordered officials to move toward scrapping the death penalty and Moscow committed itself to ending capital punishment in April 1997, when it signed a protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights.
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