On 18 December, the one-year reprieve on the death sentences of Mikhail Vershinin, Evgeniy Turochkin and Sergey Kopay expired, leading to concerns that they could be executed at any time. However, on the same day, it was announced that the President of Kazakstan had signed a moratorium on executions the previous evening. The moratorium is due to come into force on 19 December
