Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Russia's state...
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Russia's state prosecutors a tongue-lashing for allowing thousands of violent criminals to walk free and told them to improve the conviction rate for serious crimes
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Russia's state prosecutors a tongue-lashing for allowing thousands of violent criminals to walk free and told them to improve the conviction rate for serious crimes.
"What's the sense of toughening punishment if the law-enforcement system cannot make the punishment inevitable," Putin said.
But with a public debate heating up over the future of the death penalty, he repeated he was in favour of scrapping capital punishment - a move that would bring Russia in line with the European mainstream.
Putin, who has made Russia's integration into European institutions a priority, clearly had an eye on a parliamentary debate in March which should decide whether to make good on Russia's pledges to the Council of Europe to scrap capital punishment.
"What's the sense of toughening punishment if the law-enforcement system cannot make the punishment inevitable," Putin said.
But with a public debate heating up over the future of the death penalty, he repeated he was in favour of scrapping capital punishment - a move that would bring Russia in line with the European mainstream.
Putin, who has made Russia's integration into European institutions a priority, clearly had an eye on a parliamentary debate in March which should decide whether to make good on Russia's pledges to the Council of Europe to scrap capital punishment.
— SOURCES
- (Sources: Reuters, Interfax, 11/02/2002)