Russia’s Constitutional Court bans death penalty
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has ruled to declare that the death penalty cannot be used even after the termination of the moratorium, the Interfax news agency reports.
The moratorium on the death penalty expires on 1 January 2010, together with the introduction of the jury trial in Russia’s last region – Chechen Republic. After that there would be no formal obstacles for using the death penalty in Russia. However, the Constitutional Court stresses that the introduction of the jury trial in Russia does not allow for the use of the death penalty.
