RUSSIA. RUSSIAN COURTS HAVE NO RIGHT TO PASS DEATH SENTENCES, SUPREME COURT CHAIRMAN

Russian courts have no right to pass death sentences, Supreme Court Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev said.
“My attitude to the death penalty has been well known since 1998, when we signed European conventions. We have no right to sentence convicts to death, even though Russia has no death penalty moratorium,” he said.
“At present, we are witnesses to attempts to influence court verdicts. Some say may the court pronounce the death verdict first and and then the higher instance will override it later,” Lebedev said.
“We will strongly adhere to our position (of not using the death penalty),” he said.