The press-conference in Almaty took place by initiative...

The press-conference in Almaty took place by initiative of Penal ReformInternational. Among the speakers were Vera Tkachenko (PRI), Ninel Fokina (Almaty Helsinki Committee), Evgeniy Zhovtis (Kazakh International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law), Biorn Halvarsson (OSCE), Svetlana Vitkovskaya (president of the association Women-Attorneys of the Republic of Kazakhstan), Peter Van Leuvin (ambassador of the Netherlands), Rein Mullerson (the UN regional expert on human rights), and Daniyar Kanafin (attorney, member of the Almaty Bar Association).
The participants discussed the importance of enhancing the interest of Mass Media and civil society on the question of the total abolition of the death penalty.
The experts proved that there is no connection between the death penalty and the crime wave.
During the press-conference was mentioned the draft bill "Proceedings with trial jury". According to Ninel Fokina, the institution of the jury for cases that may imply death penalty shows that there will be several problems during the process of abolition of death penalty.