13 thousand convicts to be given an amnesty for 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independency

Nearly 13 thousand convicts will be amnestied on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Independence of Kazakhstan, a Tengrinews.kz journalist reports, citing the first deputy prosecutor-general of Kazakhstan as saying at a human rights round-table meeting. “About 13 thousand convicts will be amnestied. 2,200 of them will be released from places of confinement,” said Iogan Merkel today. There have been 9 amnesties during the 20 years of independence in Kazakhstan, he said. The forthcoming amnesty was initiated by President Nursultan Nazarbayev on March 15 at the Security Council meeting.