“Kill Them All”: Putin Allies Lobby For Return Of Death Penalty After Terror Attack

Russia’s notoriously outspoken former president and current senior security official Dmitry Medvedev channeled the Russian populace’s outrage in wake of the Crocus City Hall terror attack which happened Friday, and resulted in 137 people killed and at least 182 others wounded.

Medvedev stated on Telegram, “Should we kill them? We should. And we will.” The attack on the concert venue and mall complex by four gunmen, which ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for, marks the deadliest terror attack on Russian soil since the September 2004 Beslan school siege.

The former president continued by saying “it’s more important to kill everyone involved” in the Crocus City Hall attack, beyond just the four suspected gunmen who made an appearance in court Sunday to settle the matter of pre-trial confinement. In total, eleven suspects were apprehended, but little information has been released on the others, none of which are said to be Russian nationals.

“All of them: those who paid, those who sympathized [and] those who helped,” said Medvedev of those who may have collaborated or helped plan the attack. “Kill them all,” he emphasized.

Currently, there are growing calls from Russians for the federal government to reinstate the death penalty. “Senior members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime have called for the country to bring back the death penalty following Friday’s attack on a Moscow concert hall,” AFP writes.

“Critics have sounded the alarm over the demand, including due to Russia’s broad use of counter-terrorism and anti-extremist laws to target Kremlin opponents and supporters of Ukraine,” the report continues. A moratorium on capital punishment has been in place since the 1990s nationwide. 

Vladimir Vasilyev, head of the ruling United Russia party in the State Duma, said over the weekend: “Now a lot of questions are being asked about the death penalty.”

The four alleged gunmen showed signs of brutal interrogations, possibly even torture, as they were hauled into a Moscow court on Sunday.

Vasilyev added: “This topic will definitely be deeply, professionally and substantively worked out. A decision will be made that will meet the mood and expectations of our society.”

By the sound of that statement, and the temperature of the current ‘national mood’ as mourning gives way to anger – the government could be ripe to undo the ban on capital punishment.

Meanwhile, some say there’s no need for the death penalty as… “we’ve got Siberia”:

🇷🇺RUSSIA: WE DON’T NEED THE DEATH PENALTY; WE’VE GOT SIBERIA

The Kremlin has refused to consider reinstating the death penalty following the Moscow terror attack, stating, “We are not taking part in this discussion at the moment.”

Given the number of Putin’s opponents who die… https://t.co/jsoR3WMthP pic.twitter.com/N2QT3lFsV6

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 25, 2024