Kyrgyzstan Abolishes Death Penalty
June 27, 2007
President Kurmanbek Bakiev (file) (RFE/RL)
President Kurmanbek Bakiev today signed into law changes to the Criminal Code that abolish capital punishment.
The maximum penalty is now life imprisonment.
Kyrgyz authorities had extended a moratorium on executions each year since 1998.
Turkmenistan abolished the death penalty outright in 1999, while a moratorium on executions is in place in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.