Mikhail Gorbachev: I am against the death penalty. Too many errors. It does not serve the purpose. And it is senseless.

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev revealed his attitude to the possibility of lifting the death penalty moratorium in Russia. His statement was cited on a Telegram channel by Alexei Venediktov, Echo of Moscow radio station’s Editor-in-Chief.
“I am against the death penalty. Too many errors. It does not serve the purpose. And it is senseless,” Alexei Venediktov cited Mikhail Gorbachev as saying. He also posted a current photo of the 88-year-old former president of the Soviet Union.

Lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty in Russia has been talked about since the murder of nine-year-old Lisa in Saratov. The schoolgirl was strangled by the four-time convict Mikhail Tuvatin. Several petitions have been initiated on Change.org, and a poll was done on the Russian State Duma’s page in VKontakte, with 80% of the votes cast in favour of the proposed lifting.

The initiative was supported by the TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov and the State Duma Deputy Yevgeny Primakov Jr., with the latter arguing against the idea of keeping such criminals in prison for taxpayers' money. At the same time, the Government officials said they were not considering this proposal.

Russia in effect introduced a moratorium on the death penalty in 1996 by ratifying the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms when it joined the Council of Europe. In 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation decided to extend the moratorium. Reported by Rambler.