Ananova

RUSSIA:Officials urge Putin to reinstate death penalty

13 mag 2002

Officials in Russia have urged Vladimir Putin to reinstate the death penalty after a bombing killed 42 people during a Victory Day parade.

The State Council and National Assembly of Dagestan, the region's government and parliament, approved the appeal during a special session convened to discuss the explosion in Kaspiisk, near Chechnya.

 Russia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in 1996 to gain entrance into Europe's leading human rights body, the Council of Europe.

 As crime soars and fear of terrorist attacks increases with the war in Chechnya dragging on, many Russians have called for executions to resume.

 "Criminals staging terrorist acts similar to the one in Kaspiisk have no right to mercy," State Council head Magomedali Magomedov said.

 Russia's lower house of parliament has appealed to Putin to lift the moratorium earlier this year but he said the death penalty had no place in post-Soviet Russia.

 The explosion during the parade in Dagestan, which injured more than 100 people, was just the latest in a series of attacks in the region bordering Chechnya.

 Officials say the blast, which in addition to servicemen killed at least 13 children, was organised by adherents of the strict Wahhabi branch of Islam. The Saudi-based sect has followers among Chechen rebels and some Dagestan residents.

 3 men suspected of involvement in the blast were arrested in St. Petersburg and flown to Dagestan on Saturday, the region's Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Chertov said.

 However, Kaspiisk's chief prosecutor Akhmed Magaramov told the ITAR-Tass news agency that none of those detained could be directly linked to the blast. He said those detained were being questioned about other explosions in Dagestan, the scene of frequent attacks on Russian servicemen.

Russian lawmakers appeal to Putin to reinstate death penalty after Victory Day blast

May 13, 2002

By ARSEN MOLLAYEV, 

 MAKHACHKALA, Russia - Lawmakers in the southern Russian region where a bombing killed 42 people during a World War II Victory Day parade appealed to President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) on Monday to reinstate the death penalty, saying those responsible deserved the severest punishment.

The State Council and National Assembly of Dagestan � the region's government and parliament � approved the appeal during a special session convened to discuss Thursday's explosion in Kaspiisk, a Caspian Sea port near breakaway Chechnya (news - web sites), government spokesman Eduard Urazayev said.

 "Criminals staging terrorist acts similar to the one in Kaspiisk have no right to mercy," State Council head Magomedali Magomedov said.

 Russia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in 1996 to gain entrance into Europe's leading human rights body, the Council of Europe. But as crime soars and fear of terrorist attacks increases with the war in Chechnya dragging on, many Russians have called for executions to resume.

 Russians lower house of parliament appealed to Putin to lift the moratorium earlier this year, but he said the death penalty had no place in post-Soviet Russia.

 The explosion during the parade in Dagestan, which injured more than 100 people, was just the latest in a series of attacks in the region bordering Chechnya.

 Officials have said the blast, which in addition to servicemen killed at least 13 children, was organized by adherents of the strict Wahhabi branch of Islam. The Saudi-based sect has followers among Chechen rebels and some Dagestan residents.

 Three men suspected of involvement in the blast were arrested in St. Petersburg and flown to Dagestan on Saturday, the region's Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Chertov said.

 However, Kaspiisk's chief prosecutor Akhmed Magaramov told the ITAR-Tass news agency that none of those detained could be directly linked to the blast. He said those detained were being questioned about other explosions in Dagestan, the scene of frequent attacks on Russian servicemen.

 Russian newspapers reported Monday that the bombing may have been prompted by a dispute between poachers and border guards over the lucrative fish trade in Kaspiisk.

 As the probe continued, officials struggled to explain how security agents in the town swarming with Russian border guards had missed the bomb, planted in shrubs along the parade route. Kaspiisk Mayor Dzhamaludin Omarov submitted his resignation on Monday, but the Dagestan State Council rejected it.

 Russia's human rights ombudsman Oleg Mironov on Monday criticized Russian authorities for failing to do enough to protect Russians from terrorist attacks. Mironov said that the number of terrorist attacks outside Chechnya rose from 20 in 1999 to 300 last year.

 Meanwhile, the Dagestani department of the Federal Security Service revealed Monday that they had received warning of a possible terrorist attack timed for Victory Day celebrations in the regional capital, Makhachkala. Police cordoned off the main square and stepped up security, which they believe thwarted the attack but sent the alleged terrorists to Kaspiisk, Interfax news agency reported.