Rene Van der Linden, the head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has met President Putin to discuss Russia abolishing the death penalty. He has urged Russia to ratify Protocol 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which
“When I was elected in 2005 the relationship with Russia was one of my priorities. It's unprecedented for me. When I was president I invested a lot in our relationship. And I made a lot of friends here,” Van der Linden said during his meeting with Russia's President. The two sides also discussed the death penalty issue. Russia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty after joining the Council of Europe 12 years ago. It is the only member that has not completely abolished the death sentence. Van der Linden is suggesting reform of the European Court of Human Rights which should speed up the processing of cases.