Over 90% of respondents support Uzbek President Islom Karimov’s initiative to abolish the death penalty from January 2008, the Narodnoye Slovo newspaper published on 6 July the results of a poll by the Ijtimoiy Fikr public opinion study centre.

"The results of the social survey showed that awareness of Uzbek citizens of progress in reforms being carried out in the legal system is constantly increasing. The overwhelming majority of respondents (over 90%) support the president’s decision to amend the Criminal Procedure Code. The survey shows that a stable trend in the increase of the number of citizens supporting the abolition of the death penalty for grave crimes is being observed in Uzbekistan," the report said.