RUSSIA. MP HOPES RUSSIA WILL ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY IN 2006

Pavel Krasheninnikov, chairman of the Russian State Duma's Legislation Committee, said he hopes the State Duma will ratify an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms to abolish the death penalty in Russia by the end of the year.
"I hope that we will ratify Protocol 6, which envisions the abolition of the death penalty at the legislative level, by the end of this year," Krasheninnikov told Interfax.
The pressure that international organizations are putting on Russia regarding this issue is not a factor here, Krasheninnikov said. "If we abolish the death penalty, this will be done regardless of pressure from the outside".
"Public opinion influences the matter a great deal," Krasheninnikov said. "From the political viewpoint, nobody ventures to raise issues related to the abolition of the death penalty while terrorist attacks still happen," he said.