MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Current Russian legislation does not provide for the death penalty for terrorists, said Andrey Klishas, chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Legislation and Statehood in the upper house Federation Council, or "senate."

"The discussion about the death penalty is gaining momentum. Respected analysts and Telegram experts say that terrorists and pedophiles must be executed and people would support it, but, according to them, the problem lies only with the Constitutional Court [of the Russian Federation]," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

He recalled that Article 20 of the Russian Constitution guarantees everyone the right to life and allows for the death penalty until it is abolished by federal law "as an extraordinary measure of punishment for particularly grave crimes against life, while granting the accused the right to have the case heard in court through a jury trial."

Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Terrorist act"), stipulates liability for this crime in the form of a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if the crime resulted in the death of a person. "Right now, criminal cases under Article 205 cannot be heard by a jury. Sentencing terrorists to the death penalty is not feasible even in the absence of a moratorium," Klishas pointed out.

Unscrupulous speculation

"Given all that has been said, dear so-called analysts and lawyers, to say that the Constitutional Court is an obstacle to just retribution, especially in view of the tragic events at Crocus City Hall, is nothing but unscrupulous speculation," the senator pointed out.

He called on all interested parties to read the Russian Constitution, the Russian Criminal Code, the legal positions of the Russian Constitutional Court, and the speeches of Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin, saying that, "it helps a lot to get things straight in one's head."

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said earlier at a session of the lower house that all necessary laws on the death penalty in Russia have already been enacted, adding that the decision on introducing such a measure should be made by the Constitutional Court, and so there is no need to hold any referendums on the issue. Previously, Sergey Mironov, leader of the A Just Russia-For Truth party, opined that the issue of the need for introducing the death penalty in Russia should be considered in a national referendum.

On the evening of March 22, a terrorist attack targeted the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, just over the Moscow city limits. The current death toll is 139, and 182 people were injured. Eleven individuals suspected of being involved in the terrorist attack have been apprehended, including four gunmen, who were detained in the Bryansk Region, southwest of Moscow, as they attempted to seek refuge by crossing the nearby Ukrainian border. President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that, according to preliminary information, the Ukrainian side had prepared "a window" in the border especially for the terrorists to cross undetected. He promised to identify and punish all those who were behind the attack on Crocus City Hall.