Russia's human rights commissioner called for the death...

Russia's human rights commissioner called for the death penalty to be abolished in accordance with requirements of the Council of Europe, of which Russia is a member.
Speaking during an interview on Ekho Moskvy radio, human rights ombudsman Oleg Mironov said that, on joining the Council of Europe, Russia had "undertaken to abolish the death penalty. We have been members for six years now, and this problem should have been solved within three years. All we have to do is to abolish the death penalty."
Currently, the death penalty remains on Russia's statue books, but executions have been indefinitely suspended.
Commenting on a poll showing 68 per cent support for the death penalty, Mironov said that "the human rights commissioner should aim to please Russian citizens. I understand that my agitation for Russia to observe its duties towards the Council of Europe and abolish the death penalty does not add to my standing.
"However, I always acted honestly and openly, and I have openly declared my position, of which I am convinced, because the abolition of the death penalty is not just a problem of criminal law, but represents a choice of which path to follow.
It was not the harshness of punishment, according Mironov, that prevented crime, but the fact that punishment was inescapable. In addition, the ombudsman argued that the execution of a person sentenced to death for a crime they did not commit amounted to state-sponsored murder.