Kazakhstan Could Impose U.S.-Style 'Miranda' Warning

Police arrest a protester in Astana: a right to remain silent?Police officers in Kazakhstan will likely soon be employing a version of the United States' famous "Miranda warning," to inform suspects of their rights when arresting them, rferl.org reports. 

First Deputy Prosecutor-General Iogan Merkel told lawmakers on October 31 that a new draft Criminal Procedural Code proposes that law-enforcement officers must warn suspects being taken into custody that they are entitled to legal counsel, have the right to remain silent, and that anything they say can be used against them in court.

Merkel also told parliament that the new code will allow suspects to mitigate their sentences by making deals with the court based on guilty pleas and their cooperation with investigators.

Kazakhstan would become the first Central Asian nation to have such a law on its books, if the draft code is approved by lawmakers, as expected.

The Miranda warning was implemented all over the United States after the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a person who made incriminating statements in the absence of being informed of such rights.