The crime level in Turkmenistan decreased by 16% in...

The crime level in Turkmenistan decreased by 16% in the first half of 2000 in comparison with the same period in 1999, President Saparmurad Niyazov said at a session of the Cabinet of Ministers. In his opinion, the moratorium on the death penalty and the large-scale amnesty, which was carried out last year and this year when about 30 thousand people were released from jail, yielded positive results, and the number of repeat offences was inconsiderable. Police statistics "are the best indication of the rightness of Turkmenistan's policy, which is aimed at humanization of society," the president said.