The European Union hoped that a moratorium on the death...

The European Union hoped that a moratorium on the death penalty that Kazakhstan imposed on December 17, 2003 would lead to its absolute abolishment, Dutch Ambassador to Kazakhstan Peter van Leeuwen said at a press conference in Almaty. The Netherlands was currently presiding the European Union.
Director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law Yevgeny Zhovtis aired a similar opinion.
"Regrettably, Kazakhstan still has a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty rather than a moratorium on the pronouncement of the death penalty. The lifting of the moratorium could put these people in a situation in which they might be executed. I hope that we will soon switch from the moratorium on carrying out the death penalty to a moratorium on the pronouncement [of such sentences] and to its further abolishment," Zhovtis said.