Pavel Krasheninnikov chairman of the legislation committee...

Pavel Krasheninnikov chairman of the legislation committee of the State Duma said he submitted the issue of abrogating capital punishment to the lower house for discussion. Krasheninnikov said that the government had submitted, to the previous Duma, a bill on imposing a moratorium on the death penalty, but it had not been discussed. "This issue will be raised again in the nearest future," he said, adding that it was still premature to say anything definite about whether it would get parliamentary approval.