Almaty, 23 January 1997 (RFE/RL) - A top Kazakh official says 110 people were sentenced to the death penalty last year in Kazakhstan and 101 of them were executed.
Our correspondent in Almaty says the figures were made public at an international seminal yesterday in the Kazakh capital. The seminar was organized by the Soros Foundation and the American Bureau on Human Rights in Kazakhstan.
Chief Judge Sagitjan Tasmagambetov told the seminar more than 2,600 murders were committed last year in the former Soviet republic, seven percent more than the previous year, and that it was too early to consider eliminating the death penalty.