RUSSIA: PRESIDENT FAVORS GRADUAL ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev favors the gradual abolition of the death penalty, Presidential Representative to the Constitutional Court Mikhail Krotov said at the Court's plenary meeting.
The meeting is about the Supreme Court's inquiry of the possible application of death penalty in Russia starting from January 1, 2010, when the last constituent - Chechnya - gets the right to jury trials.
The president adheres to "the gradual abolition of death penalty," Krotov said. "The abolition of the death penalty is a goal of the court and legal reform," he remarked.
The Russian constitution defines death penalty as 'an exceptional measure applicable until its abolition," Krotov said. Russia is progressing towards the death penalty abolition, he said, adding that this progress does not contradict international norms.