Kazakhstan wants to toughen punishment for child sexual abuse
The Prosecutor General’s office of Kazakhstan has developed some amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes as part of improving legislation.
As Deputy Prosecutor General Marat Akhmetzhanov stated during the presentation of the draft law to the deputies, some amendments provide for tougher penalties.
First of all, we are talking about crimes against the sexual integrity of minors. So, according to the developed amendments, it is proposed to increase the punishment for raping children for a period from 20 years to life imprisonment. In addition, the Prosecutor General’s office proposes to tighten the responsibility for harboring such crimes and for misprision of them.
“This will be a serious crime with a maximum sentence of up to six years in prison,” said Akhmetzhanov. “That is, criminal punishment threatens both employees and the administration of specialized children’s institutions, which hide the facts of sexual abuse of children within their own walls. The same liability applies to parents and tutors.”
If the deputies, after considering the draft law, vote for it, toughening will also affect those who enjoy driving while intoxicated. The Prosecutor General’s office intends to deprive such citizens of the right to drive for life. And in the event of a fatal accident, the punishment is proposed to be increased from the current five years to ten years in prison.
Akhmetzhanov payed special attention to the amendments regarding liability for the sale of narcotic drugs. According to the Deputy Prosecutor General, it is proposed to introduce a sentence of imprisonment of up to 15 years for the transfer or sale of narcotic substances through electronic information resources. At the same time, the speaker of the lower house of Parliament, Nurlan Nigmatulin, criticized the developers of the draft law for rejecting the amendments of deputies, demanding to tighten the responsibility for those who advertise drugs on the walls of buildings in the form of graffiti.
“The so-called stencillers who paint drug ads on buildings, fences do not fall under the scope of the article,” Nigmatulin was indignant. “But it is they who ensure the expansion of the sales market. We must create conditions in Kazakhstan so that for all those who are trying to distribute drugs, the earth will burn under their feet, and a sword of Damocles will be over their heads!”
At the same time, the speaker expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the developers of the amendments intend to transfer drug use from the category of criminal offenses to the category of administrative offenses. According to Nigmatulin, this will create additional opportunities for criminals to evade responsibility.
