The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area Federation’s decision to boycott its sessions until the end of 2015,49 brought about discussions on the possibility of reinstatement of capital punishment. In January 2015, the Deputy Speaker of the State Duma, Igor Lebedev, was quoted as saying that Russian Federation’s possible withdrawal from the Council of Europe could lead to the cancellation of the moratorium on the death penalty, as the country would no longer be bound by the relevant international obligations.50 Commenting on the issue, the press service of the Ministry of Justice of Russian Federation stated that “withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe does not mean automatic reinstatement of death penalty as the ultimate punishment in Russia.”51 A similar statement was made by the Head of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Lebedev, who said that there was no way Russia would return to capital punishment.52 In March 2015, the State Duma rejected a draft law53 proposed by a member of the Russian Parliament from the Liberal-Democratic Party, which, inter alia, provided for the introduction of the death penalty for terrorism.54 In April 2015, an opinion poll carried out by the Public Opinion Foundation showed that, among 1,500 respondents in Russia, 60 per cent considered the death penalty to be acceptable, 22 per cent thought it was unacceptable, and 17 per cent were uncertain.55 49  “Ukraine conflict: Russia boycotts Europe rights body PACE”, BBC News, 28 January 2015, < http://www.bbc.com/ news/world-europe-31032034>. 50  Россия может вернуть смертную казнь, после выхода из Совета Европы, [Russian could reintroduce the death penalty upon leaving Council of Europe], Komsomolskaya Pravda, 29 January 2015, <http://www.kp.ru/online/ news/1961092/>. 51  Минюст разъяснил ситуацию со смертной казнью в случае выхода России из Совета Европы, [Ministry of Justice explained the situation regarding death penalty in case Russia leaves Council of Europe], Interfax, 2 February 2015, <http://www.interfax.ru/russia/421595>. 52  Председатель ВС РФ: возврата в РФ смертной казни быть не может, [Chairperson of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation: reinstatement of the death penalty cannot happen], Ria Novosti, 10 February 2015 <http://ria. ru/society/20150210/1046886286.html>. 53  Draft Law no. 437705-6, <http://asozd2.duma.gov.ru/main.nsf/(SpravkaNew)?OpenAgent&RN=437705-6&02>. 54  Госдума отклонила законопроект о смертной казни за терроризм, [State Duma rejected the law on death penalty for terrorism acts ], Interfax, 24 March 2015, <http://www.interfax.ru/russia/431945>. 55  Меняется ли отношение россиян к смертной казни, [Has the attitude of Russians towards death penalty been changing?], Public Opinion Foundation <http://fom.ru/Bezopasnost-i-pravo/12128>. 17