If a majority of Russians support the idea of lifting the moratorium on the death penalty, “we will have to be silent”, Valery Fadeyev, head of the Human Rights Council under the President of Russia, told the Daily Storm.
The human rights activist said that he had always personally opposed such a decision on religious grounds, but promised not to oppose the return of the death penalty.
“Due to the aggravation of the situation, due to the fact that a special military operation has started, due to the fact that subversive groups and terrorist acts are working, public opinion may lean towards the return of the death penalty. This is what I’m saying. <…> It is necessary to take into account different opinions among the people” Fadeyev explained.
So far, the human rights activist does not see the need for the return of the death penalty. “The main thing here is to catch a terrorist and saboteur, give him a life sentence, and let him go to jail. I do not see any particular problem here”, he said.
Earlier, the Duma said that the Constitutional Court may change its position on the abolition of the moratorium on the death penalty.
“Given the changed international situation, the degradation of the international legal system, the position of the Constitutional Court from 2009 may, in my opinion, be clarified”, said MP Oleg Morozov. According to him, Russian society is in favor of the death penalty, but it is necessary to find the political will to introduce it. “Everything else is secondary and decisive”, he said.
Sergei Mironov, head of the “Just Russia – For Truth” faction, has already appealed to Constitutional Court head Valerii Zorkin with a proposal to bring back the death penalty, TASS reported, citing the deputy’s letter. LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky also called for the moratorium to be lifted after the murder of “war correspondent” Vladlen Tatarsky.
However, Zorkin stressed late last year that a return to the practice of capital punishment in Russia under the current Constitution is impossible. “Only a change in the Constitution <…> can serve as a basis for resuming the death penalty”, he said.
