Kyrgyzstan: death penalty / legal concern: Sultan Karibzhanov, Andrei Arazov

Sultan Karibzhanov faces imminent execution unless the Presidential Clemency Commission reconsiders its decision to uphold his death sentence. He was convicted, together with Andrei Arazov, by Chuy Regional Court on 7 February 1994 of murder. The Supreme Court rejected their appeal on 5 April. However, the Presidential Clemency Commission upheld Andrei Arazov’s petition and his sentence was commuted to 20 years’ imprisonment. Sources have raised concerns that their initial verdicts were unsound as reportedly the only evidence linking the two men to the crime were confessions allegedly made under duress. During their trial the defendants retracted their confessions.

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