RUSSIA. MORATORIUM ON DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE LIFTED, COMMUNIST PARTY LEADER

Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov assessed Russia's membership of the Council of Europe as positive, but suggested that Russia should lift its moratorium on the death penalty in the near future.
Zyuganov described the obligation to abolish the death penalty as a punishment for serious crimes, which Russia assumed upon entering the Council of Europe, as injudicious.
"We are not yet ready to abolish the death penalty, which is confirmed by numerous sociological surveys. The level of serious crimes, including those committed by terrorists, is still very high in this country," Zyuganov said.
"I am sure that we should lift the death penalty moratorium and we should also reconsider Russia's sizeable contribution to the Council of Europe, and both decisions should be made without delay," he said.