The HOC delegation formed by Bruno Mellano, Antonio...

The HOC delegation formed by Bruno Mellano, Antonio Stango and Rosanna Degiovanni completed its official meetings in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
Thanks to the help of the Italian embassy in Almaty (Kazakhstan) and to the intervention of Italian honorary Consul Giorgio Fiacconi, the delegation met with vice Foreign Minister Kulubayev and, at the Ministry of Justice, the director general for the execution of capital sentences, Nosov, together with head of prison reform Katkov.
From the meetings emerged interesting facts regarding the prison system: 17,000 people imprisoned in 35 institutions, 11 of which defined closed prisons, 19 open (work colonies).
Life imprisonment is considered a luxury of rich countries: sentences introduced with the new penal code of 1998 substitute the death penalty with a sentence of maximum 30 years imprisonment.
On December 4, 1998, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the UN, President Askar Akaev introduced a two year moratorium on executions. The moratorium has been renewed annually since then.
There are 120 people on death row in the country, held in ordinary prisons due to lack of funds.
All those spoken with agreed to a UN moratorium but underlined the fact that the final decision would come down to the President.