President Nursultan Nazarbayev

KAZAKHSTAN: MPS SUGGEST REMOVING DEATH PENALTY FROM CRIMINAL CODE, GENERAL PROSECUTOR SAYS NO

January 23, 2014: some MPs in the Kazakhstan’s Majilis (lower chamber) suggested the death penalty be removed from the country’s Criminal Code.
“We believe there is a unique possibility to take a sound decision to completely remove death penalty from the Criminal Code”, some majilismen said when unveiling draft amendments into the Criminal Code.
However, the General Prosecutor’s Office did not support the full abolishment of capital punishment. “I heard no arguments in favour of abolishment [of death penalty] apart from the argument that having death penalty in the list of punishments is a sign of backwoods mentality (…) Then let us classify the USA as a backwoods mentality nation”, Johan Merkel, Vice General Prosecutor, said. He emphasized that the state should have a clear-cut mechanism to protect its own citizens. “Kazakhstan’s courts are cautious when applying this measure, although there are some truly spine-chilling crimes. The General Prosecutor’s Office will never support the full abolishment; although, this measure might be renounced for some crimes”, he added.
In the current Criminal Code there are 18 crimes punishable with capital punishment, including plotting lethal terror acts and committing grave crimes in war time. The draft Criminal Code implies capital punishment for 16 crimes.
MPs representing the People's Communist Party are in favour of further applying capital punishment. “We do emphasize that capital punishment is not a silver bullet. We believe that terror acts, premeditated murders (…) should be penalized with capital punishment. There should be a strong warning for every potential criminal that committing a certain crime s/he risks her or his life. The fear of being executed is a strong deterrent”, MP Vladimir Kossarev of the People’s Communist Party commented.
In December 2003, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev introduced an unlimited moratorium on capital punishment. From 1990 to 2003 there were 536 executions carried out in Kazakhstan. Currently about 100 people are serving life-long sentences. (Sources: en.tengrinews.kz, 23/01/2014)