to death in 199852, and at least 15 in 1999. While the total number of executions is not known, there are credible reports of at least two persons being executed in late 1998 and early 1999. Abdulkhafiz Abdullayev, the brother of a former Prime Minister active in the political opposition, was sentenced to death together with five co-defendants for his alleged involvement in the attempt to assassinate President Rakhmonov in April 1997. According to international observers, several witnesses had been forced under duress to incriminate Abdulkhafiz Abdullayev. He was reportedly executed by shooting in November 1998. Bakhrom Sadirov, who had been found guilty of the February 1997 hostage-taking of several United Nations observers, was allegedly executed in January 199953. A number of other trials, several of them with a political background, have resulted in death sentences, including the case of three United Tajik Opposition (UTO) members who were sentenced to death in March 1999 for their alleged involvement in the killing of four United Nations employees in July 1998, and the trial against two prominent opposition figures, former high officials of Khalton province Sherali Mirzoyev and Kosym Babayev, who were found guilty in June 1999 of having participated in the 1997 coup attempt led by Colonel Makhmud Khudoberdiyev. Three leaders of an armed group that was operating in KurganTyube during another anti-Government mutiny led by Colonel Khudoberdiyev in November 1998 were sentenced to death in December 1999 for murder, terrorism, weapons contraband and high treason54. Political trials mostly are closed to the public, and often are held not in courts, but in the prisons where the defendants are held. In general, capital punishment very often is applied in an arbitrary way by Tajik courts, with serious fair trial violations being reported by international observers55. 4.14 Turkey According to the Turkish statute books, capital punishment may be imposed for a broad range of 21 crimes. The Penal Code provides for the death penalty for nine offences, namely crimes against the territorial integrity of the State, collaboration with a State at war with Turkey, espionage, attempts to overthrow the existing constitutional system by force, armed rebellion against the Government, preventing the cabinet from performing its functions, inciting the people to revolt and kill one Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD