RUSSIA. RUSSIANS IN FAVOUR OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, POLL

seventy-four percent of Russian citizens interviewed in a survey said they considered death sentences acceptable, 15% took the opposite view, and ten per cent were undecided.
The percentage of respondents in favour of or against the death penalty remained almost unchanged since 2001, with 80% of Russians speaking in favor of the punishment and 15% against.
Russia's decision to impose a moratorium on the death penalty in 1996 drew criticism from 55% of those polled, mostly elderly people (61%), while 28% of respondents, chiefly people with higher education (36%), urban residents (35%) and people under 35 (34%), backed the move. Surveys conducted in 2001 showed that 27% of Russians approved of the moratorium, while 62% opposed it.
Sixty-three percent of those polled wanted Russia to reintroduce the death penalty. The idea was most popular among Communist Party supporters (74%) and elderly people (68%), but did not enjoy support among young people. Twenty-three percent of those surveyed wanted Russia to continue observing the moratorium on capital punishment and 4% were in favor of abolishing the death penalty altogether. The poll was conducted in 100 towns and villages across the country and involved 1,500 respondents.