Baku Sun - Azerbaijan

 DUSHANBE, Tajikistan — The Tajik Parliament’s lower house adopted a bill Tuesday introducing life imprisonment as an alternative to the death penalty.

Tajikistan’s adopts death penalty alternative

Tajikistan has had a moratorium on the death penalty since April and courts have since been using the 25-year jail term instead.

The 25-year sentence wasn’t an adequate enough punishment for some grave crimes, the parliament’s press service said Tuesday.

Life imprisonment will be applied as punishment for grave crimes such as murder and rape in aggravating circumstances, terrorism and genocide that are punishable by the death penalty under the current Criminal Code.