Vol. 441 No. 5
88 Mr. Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he intends to make representations to the Government of Kazakhstan urging that clemency be granted to persons (details supplied) who have been sentenced to death for their alleged involvement in a number of killings.
I have seen reports that the two persons to whom the Deputy has referred have been sentenced to death in Kazakhstan. Should the Deputy wish to provide details of these cases, including the charge on which the persons were convicted, the dates of their trials and also advise as to whether appeals for clemency have been lodged, I will examine the cases in question.
As the Deputy is aware, Ireland is a party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights which provides for the abolition of the death penalty. Ireland is to the forefront of international efforts to abolish the death penalty. I hope that our example will promote the wider abolition of the death penalty.
