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That wasn't what happened, though. The soviets had discovered in the 1930s that not only was there a plot against the soviet state from within, but also severe corruption and remnants of the former ruling classes and their sympathizers in place. The soviets had set up means of internal investigation, and by and large managed to kick out corrupt officials from government. They found many guilty of treason, corruption, and other serious crimes, but the number of found guilty and sentenced to death exceeded their estimates, and hence it was called off.
The death penalty should be abolished, sure. However, socialist states, and especially the soviet union, are in a constant state of siege and infiltration. They weren't killing random people willy-nilly.
Then why did you say that's what happened? I quoted you exactly. Any state that plans to execute 70,000 of its own citizens I'm not going to support. Creating a arbitrary maximum shows a complete disregard for human life. It's simply unacceptable.
That's the problem. When the state has the right to execute people they can make the law what they need it to be in order to "legally" execute anyone they wish. The state is the law.
The state finding 700,000 people guilty kinda exemplifies the issue even if they didn't carry out the sentences.
You claimed things like "it was done purely for ideology" and other bits I didn't say, so I added context. There wasn't a plan to execute the maximum limit, nor was the limit arbitrary. Further, the purges were popularly supported by the populace, because terrorism, infiltration, and assassinations were prevelant, including people like Kirov who were close to the top. The soviet system was democratic, the state was not above society.