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How a single staffing shakeup changed what Putin's Human Rights Council has to say about the death penalty
Source: Meduza
![On November 19, Supreme Court of Tatarstan Chief Justice Ilgiz Gilazov <a href="https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4164332" target="_blank">expressed support</a> for reinstating capital punishment in Russia, asking, “How are we supposed to treat crimes like the ones committed by [Soviet serial killer Andrey] Chikatilo? When there are 50 – 60 bodies… When children are killed? When they’re tormented? Is it really proportional to issue life in prison?” When asked to comment on the prospect of cancelling Russia’s moratorium on the death penalty, <a href="https://meduza.io/en/news/2019/10/21/putin-appoints-kremlin-friendly-chair-and-gives-independent-professionals-the-boot-in-major-human-rights-council-shakeup" target="_blank">newly instated</a> Presidential Human Rights Council Chair Valery Fadeyev <a href="https://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2019/11/20/n_13719506.shtml?updated" target="_blank">said </a>the body had no particular stance on the issue. His predecessor, Mikhail Fedotov, had <a href="https://ria.ru/20191010/1559607451.html" target="_blank">spoken out against</a> reinstating the death penalty.](/impro/0s1ByhvhQxNA0ew3qCR7Zo2SRQT-5U1Fz-WmN1sClfs/resizing_type:fit/width:1300/height:0/enlarge:1/quality:95/aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWR1/emEuaW8vaW1hZ2Uv/YXR0YWNobWVudHMv/aW1hZ2VzLzAwNC83/NzMvMTAxL29yaWdp/bmFsL0xQX29CWWkz/QmtWektsVk4wZWtI/aEEucG5n.webp)
On November 19, Supreme Court of Tatarstan Chief Justice Ilgiz Gilazov expressed support for reinstating capital punishment in Russia, asking, “How are we supposed to treat crimes like the ones committed by [Soviet serial killer Andrey] Chikatilo? When there are 50 – 60 bodies… When children are killed? When they’re tormented? Is it really proportional to issue life in prison?” When asked to comment on the prospect of cancelling Russia’s moratorium on the death penalty, newly instated Presidential Human Rights Council Chair Valery Fadeyev said the body had no particular stance on the issue. His predecessor, Mikhail Fedotov, had spoken out against reinstating the death penalty.
Cover photo: Maxim Shipenkov / EPA / Scanpix / LETA
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