Fifty-six percent of Russians support death penalty - poll

01:48

More than half of Russian citizens support the death penalty, but the share of death penalty advocates has somewhat shrunk over the past few years, a poll suggests.

Fifty-six percent of respondents, polled by the Research Center of the SuperJob.ru recruiting portal, said they accepted the death penalty as punishment for severe crimes and as a factor that could bring the grave crime statistics down in this country. They also argued that taxpayers have to keep murderers, rapists and pedophiles serving life sentences, which is unfair.

"Convicted murderers and hardened criminals, if the proof of their guilt is irrefutable, must not be kept at taxpayers' expense and they must be executed," advocates of the death penalty argue.

The share of those who advocate capital punishment is larger among men than among women - 62% to 48%. And citizens aged over 55 are especially enthusiastic supporters of the death penalty.

10.11.2009