The public debate in Russia over the future of the...

The public debate in Russia over the future of the death penalty heated up when the justice minister said it should be scrapped, while a regional governor said the murder rate showed it ought to be kept.
Echoing President Vladimir Putin who favours abolition to bring Russia into line with mainstream European practice, Justice Minister Yuri Chaika said he opposed reinstating capital punishment.
"Life imprisonment is the best option (for serious crimes)," Chaika was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.
But Alexander Tkachev, governor of southern Russia's Krasnodar region, speaking after the murder of two local officials, said talk of scrapping the death penalty was "premature in today's Russia".
The opposing views foreshadowed potentially emotional debate when the State Duma (parliament's lower house) decides in March on whether to make good on Russia's pledges to the Council of Europe to scrap capital punishment altogether.