Kyrgyz Ombudsman Tursunbek Akun

KYRGYZISTAN: OMBUDSMAN AGAINST RETURN TO DEATH PENALTY

October 2, 2009: having high-ranking officials speaking about reinstituting the death penalty will irreparably damage Kyrgyzstan's reputation, the country's ombudsman, Tursunbek Akun, believes.
A report released by the ombudsman's press service says that recent statements of a number of  high-ranking officials about reinstating the death penalty " shocked" society, and most of all, Kyrgyzstan's human rights movement.
Any call for public execution, as "in the Middle Ages or during the fascist era", pushes the country "into lawlessness and obscurantism".
"State officials working under the direct leadership of the president, with their statements that are not well-thought-out, are casting a shadow over the head of state who defines Kyrgyzstan's foreign and domestic policy," Akun's report says. (Sources: BBC, 03/10/2009)