Since Friday’s devastating attack on Moscow’s Krokus City Hall, many within Vladimir Putin’s regime have called for the death penalty to be reinstated for suspects.
This was Russia’s worst terrorist attack in 20 years, killing at least 115 people and injuring 145 others.
Yuri Afnin, deputy head of the State Duma Security Committee, said it was “necessary” to reinstate the death penalty in terrorism cases.
Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current vice-chairman of the Russian Security Council, called for the “elimination” of terrorists after the attack.
“Kill them all,” Mr Medvedev said Recent Telegram postsincluding those “who paid the price, those who sympathized” [and] Those who help”.
Four men believed to be from Tajikistan have been charged with carrying out the attack. The men appeared to have been severely beaten when they appeared in court on Sunday, with a video circulating online appearing to show one of the men having part of his ear cut off.
A branch of the so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. The Islamic State in Khorasan (Isis-K) is mainly active in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Is the death penalty banned in Russia?
Although the death penalty remains legal in Russia, its use has been suspended since 1996.
However, Roman Zykov, a Russian partner at international law firm Mansors, said it remains part of Russia’s official criminal law legislation.
Russia joined the Council of Europe in 1996. The member state does not allow executions, and no member state has carried out an execution since 1997. However, Russia was expelled from the EU in March 2022 after invading Ukraine.
The use of the death penalty was fairly common in the Soviet Union, at least compared to many other countries. It is estimated that some 445 people were sentenced to death in 1990, of whom 195 were executed. Human rights organization Helsinki Watch.
But Zykov said that even in Soviet times, the death penalty could only be imposed by a jury and did not apply to women, those under 18 and those over 65.
The latest calls appear out of character for Russian politicians, many of whom have reiterated their opposition to the death penalty in recent years.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Condemns the use of capital punishment in BelarusA close ally of Russia after the 2011 Minsk subway bombings.
Putin reiterates his opposition to the death penalty Until December 2022.
Is it likely to resume work?
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently said the Kremlin was not involved in discussions about lifting restrictions on the use of the death penalty, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
But despite repeated assurances from the Russian authorities, Some local media reported that the State Duma, The lower house of Russia’s federal parliament will discuss abolishing the moratorium.
Russian lawyer Alexander Zorin said the amendment would not lead to the execution of suspects in last week’s killings because criminal law cannot be applied retroactively in Russia.
Currently, most countries in the world (including all European countries except Belarus) do not use the death penalty. According to the latest data from Amnesty International, only 55 countries still retain the death penalty, roughly half of which are 22 countries. Haven’t used it in 10 years.
Regardless of actual law, the vast majority of executions in the world Occurs in a relatively small number of countries.
Iran executed 576 people in 2022, while Saudi Arabia and Egypt executed 196 and 24 people respectively.
China is believed to execute thousands of people every year, but it does not publish official figures on this.
Oleg Kozlovsky, Amnesty International’s regional researcher specializing in human rights, believes that if Russian authorities wanted to reinstate the death penalty, they would do so regardless of legal obstacles.
Although the Russian constitution enshrines the right to life, Kozlovsky claimed that the constitution could simply be rewritten if necessary, as Russian politicians generally tend to vote along similar lines.
He noted how the government managed to pass controversial war review laws within days of the invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Kozlowski believes it is important for foreign governments and civil rights groups to oppose the introduction of the bill for two reasons.
First, it can be used to unfairly persecute people. For example, the definition of terrorism could be expanded to include inciting terrorism, and then could be expanded to support the activities of Ukrainians. Kozlovsky said many Russians would be well aware of the risks.
Second, researchers say other post-Soviet countries may follow Russia’s lead in reintroducing the death penalty because they tend to emulate Russian policies in many areas.
“Russian people are broadly divided over the death penalty,” he explained. “But amid the current heightened emotions following Friday’s horrific attacks, the Russian public may be less free than usual on the issue.”
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