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Putin Expresses Opposition to Death Penalty
President Vladimir Putin expressed strong opposition Monday to the death penalty, saying Russia should not restore executions despite public support for them.
"The state must not claim the right to take human life away, which belongs only to the Almighty," Putin said at a Kremlin meeting with World Bank President James Wolfensohn, according to the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies.
Russia introduced a moratorium on the death penalty in 1996 as a condition for entrance to the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights watchdog. Russia has not banned capital punishment entirely.
Putin said he understands why opinion polls show most Russians support reviving the death penalty, blaming the view on the turmoil of the past decade since the collapse of the Soviet system.
Wolfensohn arrived in Russia on Sunday to open a conference on court reform and expressed support for Putin's pledges to overhaul Russia's cumbersome, often corrupt judicial system.
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