Itar-Tass 

RUSSIA: State Duma to review ratification of death penalty abolition

The State Duma, or the Russian parliaments lower house, is going to discuss the ratification of a protocol of the European convention on abolition of the death penalty.

The State Dumas committee on civil, criminal, arbitration and procedural legislation is going to put the review of the ratification on the agenda, the committees chief Pavel Krasheninnikov told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.

He said the previous State Duma had made a positive recommendation for ratifying Protocol 6 of the convention.

However, debate on the ratification had not taken place.

At present, the State Dumas largest faction United Russia supports the ratification.

The protocol was signed in April 1983 and came in force on February 21, 1985.

41 state members of the Council of Europe have joined the protocol.

Russia signed this international accord in April 1997, but has not signed it so far along with Belgium, Latvia and Ukraine.