BISHKEK -- A Kyrgyz rights activist says a security official's suggestion that the death penalty be restored and public executions be held for some crimes is "very dangerous," RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Aziza Abdirasulova, director of the nongovernmental organization Kylym shamy (Torch of the Century), told RFE/RL that "the judiciary system in Kyrgyzstan is dependent on the executive branch of power" and "a lot of people who did not commit crimes are being sentenced to jail."
Abdirasulova spoke after Murat Sutalinov, chairman of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security, told the country's Security Council that "for some types of crimes we should probably reintroduce the death penalty" and even hold "public executions" in order to deter crime.
Security Council Secretary Adakhan Madumarov told the council he supports Sutalinov's proposal.
A press release by the Kyrgyz Security Council issued on September 24 said Madumarov's views are not the official stance of the Kyrgyz government. The comments of Sutalinov and Madumarov caused an outcry among other human rights activists in Kyrgyzstan.
The Kyrgyz Constitution was amended in 2007 to ban the death penalty.