Members of Kazakh parliament’s lower chamber, the Mazhilis, on February 21, approved the first reading of a bill that would allow life imprisonment for individuals convicted of pedophilia and/or the murder of children, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported.
The bill comes after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered in his address to the nation in September 2023 that such legislation was needed, the parliament’s press service said. The bill also toughens the punishment for assaulting and beating children and “helpless” people. Tokayev initiated the bill amid an outcry by human rights groups about a rise in domestic violence in the Central Asian nation.
