Dmitry Krasnov did not rule out lifting the moratorium on the death penalty after the tragedy in Crocus

From a legal point of view, the tragedy in a concert hall near Moscow qualifies as a terrorist attack. The perpetrators face life imprisonment, as the country has a moratorium on the death penalty. Capital punishment in the form of the death penalty can be returned by adopting amendments to the Constitution. Dmitry Krasnov, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation, member of the Supreme Council of the Social Movement “Strong Russia”, told MK about this.

“Now, I think, a criminal case will be opened under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – a terrorist act,” he said. – What is a terrorist act? This is the commission of an explosion, arson or other actions that frighten the population and create a danger of death, causing significant property damage or other serious consequences. The goal is to destabilize the activities of authorities or international organizations or influence their decision-making, as well as influence the decision-making of authorities or international organizations.

That is, in our case, all the actual actions indicated by the terrorists who captured Crocus City yesterday and carried out a massacre there were committed. A large number of people died. The exact number has not yet been established. While the investigative and rescue authorities are working, they are finding out exactly the number of dead and wounded people. A huge and very expensive building was destroyed. Accordingly, there is also material damage, in addition to the numerous deaths of people. Accordingly, this will be qualified under Part 3, paragraph “b” and will be punishable by life imprisonment.

– Maybe the death penalty should be returned for such criminals?

– The question of returning the death penalty has been raised not for the first time. People and politicians propose returning this type of punishment when serial killers or pedophiles are caught. In our case, we see that the cruelty and senselessness of the crimes committed by the bandits who have now been detained are so high that this trend has appeared again: many Russian citizens want to return this type of punishment as the death penalty.

We know that now there is a moratorium on the death penalty, but if we amend the Constitution, then, in principle, the introduction of the death penalty is possible. Law is a living matter that changes in accordance with changes in relations in society and is a response to the challenges that arise in the country and society. Society reacts by changing laws in order to influence processes in the way that is necessary for society and the state.

– What are the main tasks of the investigation now?

– After the initiation of a criminal case, operational search activities are carried out aimed at identifying the persons who committed this unlawful act. Yesterday there was a rescue unit and, of course, in parallel with this, investigative actions were apparently already underway with an inspection of the scene of the incident and the recording of all the facts that would allow solving this crime.

All this is reflected in the investigative actions during the inspection of the crime scene, recorded in the protocol, audio and video recordings are made, witnesses to this offense are identified, data is confiscated from CCTV cameras in order to establish all the circumstances of the case, as well as the persons who committed the crime. It was necessary to establish where these terrorists who committed these illegal actions yesterday went.

The FSB announced the arrest of the suspects. I think that all persons involved in this crime will be identified. These are not only the perpetrators who are detained, but also the customers, accomplices and organizers. Now interrogations will be carried out in order to find out the contacts of these individuals, and the seizure of their gadgets, which will allow us to establish their social circle. We need to understand with whom they communicated, corresponded, what tasks they received from whom, who armed them,

drew up a plan for this crime and prepared the perpetrators.

– Many people say that the traces of the crime lead to Ukraine…

– The investigation and trial will show. First, an investigation is carried out, within the framework of which all evidence is collected about the involvement of the detained people in the crime, and other persons involved in this crime are identified. These persons are charged, after which the case is proven and sent to court, where the person is found guilty.

In accordance with the Constitution and the Criminal Code, a person is found guilty only after a court verdict. And if such guilt is established, for example, a connection with the special services of Ukraine, then a criminal case against the alleged organizers of this crime will be separated into separate proceedings. Namely, in relation to the Ukrainian special services, specific individuals, heads of Ukrainian intelligence units. Because in our country it is not the state that is held accountable, but specific individuals. Accordingly, a decision will be made, I think, to identify, detain and punish these individuals in accordance with our law.