“Today, many are asking the question of the death penalty.
A decision will be made that will meet the expectations of our society.
» The sentence comes from the mouth of the head of the parliamentary group of the ruling United Russia party, Vladimir Vassiliev.
Since the attack in Moscow on Friday evening, several executives close to Vladimir Putin have increased calls for the lifting of the moratorium in place since 1996 on the death penalty for “terrorists”.
“When we talk about terrorism, the murder of people, we must reinstate the death penalty within the framework of criminal law”;
added Sergei Mironov, figure of the pro-Kremlin “Just Russia” party in charge of security issues.
He also called for “the establishment of the death penalty for people committing terrorist acts.”
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In addition to jihadist groups like the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the deadly Crocus City Hall attack, Russia considers many Ukrainian opponents and leaders to be “extremists” and “terrorists.”
This month, it also added the “international LGBT movement” to the list of terrorist organizations established by Russian financial services.
“We will avenge everyone”
Former president and current number 2 of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev assured Friday that Russia would “destroy” the Ukrainian leaders if they were responsible for the attack on the concert hall.
“If it is established that they are terrorists of the kyiv regime, they must all be found and mercilessly destroyed as terrorists.
Including the leaders of the state that committed such an atrocity,” he said on Telegram, adding: “We will avenge everyone.
And everyone involved, regardless of country of origin and status, is now our legal and primary focus.”
The death penalty is no longer applied in Russia since the commitment made by this country in 1996 when it joined the Council of Europe.
However, it was never officially abolished even though when the moratorium expired, the constitutional court considered that the application of the death penalty had become impossible.
However, Russia is often accused of silencing its opposition by other means.
Thus during the death of the opponent Alexeï Navalny, Emmanuel Macron estimated that “in today's Russia, we put free spirits in the gulag and condemn them to death there”