Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov o January 23 signed the Law on Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of the Kyrgyz Republic (Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes), the Kyrgyz president’s official website reported on January 24.
According to the Kyrgyz president’s official website, the law toughens punishment of offenses against sexual inviolability.
The document was reportedly adopted by the Kyrgyz Parliament on December 7, 2023 to ensure the rights to sexual inviolability and sexual freedom, protection of life and health from criminal encroachments.
The purpose of the law is to strengthen the prevention of crime by strengthening liability and creating mechanisms to protect victims of crimes against sexual inviolability from repeat offenses.
The main changes made to the Codes are: criminal cases at the stage of pre-trial proceedings for serious crimes (including rape) in connection with reconciliation of the parties shall not be terminated; norms providing for the termination of criminal proceedings in connection with reconciliation of the parties are excluded; and the statute of limitations for sexual inviolability offenses, probation supervision, and bail are excluded, as these provisions undermine the confidence of victims in the law enforcement system.
Citing the Prosecutor-General’s Office of Kyrgyzstan, AKIpress reported in late July last year that 16 rape cases were closed in the country over the first six months of 2023 due to reconciliation between parties.
