It is worth noting that the Russians generally do not object to the return of this penalty. A recent survey showed that about 80 percent Russians supported the idea of restoring the death penalty.
Upon the initiative of the deputies the Communist Party of the Russian Federation headed by Gennady Zyuganov, a draft address to the Russian President Vladimir Putin has been submitted to the State Duma. They propose to bring back the death penalty. This suggestion was prompted by several serious crimes that had produced a resounding public reaction, as well as by the increasing threat of terrorism. “State Duma has made a request for returning the death penalty. Aggravated crimes must be punished in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and its Constitution,” Russian news media said, citing the excerpts from the draft. It is worth noting that the Russians generally do not object to the return of this penalty. A recent survey has shown that about 80 percent of the Russians supported the idea of restoring the death penalty. State Duma Split Up Along with it, there are opponents of this proposal among the deputies of the State Duma. For example, lawmaker Pavel Krashennikov, head of the parliamentary committee on legislation, said that the return of the death penalty would not do anything in terms of crime reduction. In addition, Krashennikov called for keeping in mind that the courts might make mistakes sometimes. “I'm totally against it. Obviously, it's not going to make the criminal situation any better. And beside that, the death penalty becomes meaningless because there are also miscarriages of justice. Not only in Russia, but also in the whole world,” Krashennikov said, adding that he would never support this idea. Russia abolished the death penalty in February 1996.