All news

Kremlin proceeds from existing moratorium on death penalty

According to Putin's spokesman, the president "has not come up with any alternative points of view"

MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. The Kremlin proceeds on the assumption that a moratorium on the capital punishment is currently in effect in Russia, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters commenting on the suggestion of the leader of the political party A Just Russia Sergey Mironov on applying the capital punishment for terrorism.

"The issue of the death penalty is extremely complicated, and numerous discussions are under way. After all, there is a decision on the moratorium, we proceed from this moratorium," the Kremlin spokesman said.

When asked whether the stance of the Russian President Vladimir Putin who earlier called the return of the death penalty pointless has changed, Peskov said the president "had not come up with any alternative points of view."

So far, the Kremlin declines to comment on Mironov’s speech, in which he came up with the idea to return the death penalty for terrorists. "This is an entirely new proposal, so at the moment I cannot formulate any position," Peskov said. He suggested that reporters get in touch with the author of this idea and ask him to comment on the issue. "I would not like to discuss the issue," the Kremlin spokesman added.

Mironov has suggested stripping of citizenship Russians who are involved in terrorist activity. "I believe we should follow in the footsteps of France and strip of citizenship those who sided with the Islamic State terrorist group [based in Russia], he said on Friday speaking at the joint session of the State Duma and the Federation Council.

According to Mironov, "it is necessary to come up with a proposal to conclude a broad international agreement on this issue."

A similar proposal was put forward earlier on Friday during the joint session of the State Duma and the Federation Council by Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Viktor Ozerov. He suggested revoking the citizenship of Russians travelling abroad to take part in terrorist activity and prohibiting their relatives to leave the country.