BREAKING: Russia Constitutional Court appear to make decision on death penalty return

FOLLOWING reports that Russia was looking to bring back the death penalty after the school shooting tragedy in Izhevsk back in September, the head of the Russian Constitutional Court has given the clearest indication of whether or not it would return.

While speaking at the 10th All-Russian Congress of Judges, Valery Zorkin appeared to make a decision on the death penalty returning to Russia.

Valery Zorkin said on Tuesday, November 29 that Russia’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe and tense historical times were no reason to bring back the death penalty in the country.

“The heightened tension of a particular historical time is not a reason to create an unjustified bias towards severity,” he said.

Russian state-controlled media outlet RIA reported that Zorkin added that Russia needed to demonstrate to society the humanistic nature of Russian law and law enforcement.

He said Russia needed to purposefully “introduce goodness, humanity and humanism into the life of society” through available legal means.

“Under such circumstances, it would be a very bad signal to society to abandon the moratorium on the death penalty in Russia now,” he added.

A new Constitution would be required to return the death penalty.

As noted, the return of the death penalty in Russia was discussed back in September following the school shooting at school number 88 on Pushkinskaya street, Izhevsk, Russia, which saw seven children killed.

On Tuesday, September 27, speaker Vyacheslav Volodin asked Russia’s State Duma to prepare a “protocol order for consultations with the Russian president and the government on the return of the death penalty for certain criminals.”

Speaking after the Izhevsk school tragedy on September 26, State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin asked parliamentarians to hold urgent consultations with the president, government and law enforcement agencies on the return of the death penalty in Russia by court order for the organisers and perpetrators of terrorist acts against children and young people.

“Prepare an appropriate protocol order, and then it will be considered in accordance with the rules of procedure… This should all be discussed, analysed, and then we will come to a decision which will be supported by the majority,” Volodin replied to Zatulin at the time.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.