Who was the russian leader who granted more economic and political freedom to the people of the former ussr? joseph stalin ivan the great mikhail gorbachev v. i. lenin.

Mikhail Gorbachev.

Explanation:

Mikhail Gorbachev became the first president of the Soviet Union in 1990 and received Nobel Price for promoting peaceful international relations and ending Cold War. Gorbachev's key political changes included a more democratic system of elections. He abolished the special status of the Communist Party, as set out in the constitution of the USSR. State power was turned over to the USSR People's Duties Congress, the first parliament in the Soviet Union, based on democratic elections.

“i think it is very plausible that if there are five votes to end the death penalty, it could be with the people who are on the court right now,” - smith

so basically it is not clearly and consistently imposed