RUSSIA. COUNCIL OF EUROPE PRESIDENCY SHOULD PROMOTE DEATH PENALTY MORATORIUM, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

Russia's presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe should help advocates of the death penalty moratorium to persuade the majority of State Duma MPs of the feasibility of the sixth protocol ratification which presupposes the cancellation of death penalty, State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov said.
The abandonment of the death penalty will promote the fight against terrorism, he said. "The issue of extraditing criminals, who are currently abroad and who are not extradited because Russia maintains death penalty, could be solved more effectively," Kosachyov said. Canceling the death penalty would help Russian negotiators bargain with terrorists who had taken hostages, he added.