President Putin: Constitutional Court Significant For Fight Against Terrorism

Russian President Vladimir Putin attaches great importance to the role of the Constitutional Court in the fight against terrorism. The Russian head of state said about it Thursday at a meeting with Constitutional Court chairmen from Europe the CIS. Vladimir Putin remarked that Russia had faced the organised terrorist network, the need to counter this evil, all the while observing human rights and freedoms, earlier than other countries. According to the president, such a combination was difficult to deal with, but we are trying to solve the task, assigning priority to the human rights of Chechen residents and their normal life. The head of state emphasised that terrorists of all brands had learnt how to conceal the essence of their activities under the disguise of human rights, how to play their tricks and mislead the world public. In this connection, Putin noted, it is hard to resist the temptation to employ the same methods. The Russian leader is convinced that the present-day terrorism does not only threaten peaceful life, but also challenges the fundamentals of the state system--something that can undermine the constitutional order of any country. Therefore, the president stressed, the most pressing issue now is to upgrade the international and national legal base and jointly probe for effective judicial anti-terror mechanisms. According to Vladimir Putin, human rights and freedoms are the basic principle and the Constitutional Court attaches particular importance to this aspect of its activity. He stressed that the Russian Constitutional Court was independent and this independence was safeguarded by both the authorities and civil society. Putin also remarked that the entire Russian public trusted the Constitutional Court, which was actually the most significant result of its ten-year activity. The president continued that the Russian Constitutional Court had harmoniously matched into the "family" of constitutional courts worldwide and enjoyed a merited international prestige.