The Kremlin is reckoning on the next Russian parliament...

The Kremlin is reckoning on the next Russian parliament to abolish the death penalty. "We hope that the next parliament [to be elected in December 2003] will manage to resolve the issue of abolishing the death penalty," a source in the Russian presidential administration told RIA.
"The majority of current MPs are against abolishing the death penalty," he added.
The Kremlin spokesman recalled that a moratorium on the death penalty will be in force until January 1, 2008, by when jury trials should be the norm across the whole of Russia. Since the start of 2003, jury courts have appeared in 69 entities of the 89 in the Russian Federation, and they were due to be introduced in a number of other regions as of July 1. By 2004, there should be jury courts operating in all regions except Chechnya where they will be introduced on January 1, 2008, the spokesman said.
He said that he believes that jury courts are important in raising awareness of legal matters in Russia. This new institution "is forcing investigators and prosecutors to do better quality work, to thoroughly research all available evidence, and not to allow mistakes when evidence is collected", he said.