Life imprisonment in the United States

The Serbian Parliament has voted amendments to the Penal Code to abolish the 30- to 40-year prison sentence and introduce life imprisonment for the worst crimes, Tanjug reported.

The changes to the Balkan country's criminal law were approved with 159 votes in the 250-member assembly. 

There are 15 of them, ranging from the crime of murdering representatives of the highest state authorities to genocide. Sentences of 30 to 40 years in prison will be abandoned, so Serbian judges will have to choose between 20 years and life imprisonment when sentencing people so convicted.

The Estonian authorities said that conditions in its prisons where war crimes convicts from the former Yugoslavia are serving their sentences comply with international standards.

Turkish EU Minister Bozk?r said that if it was his own daughter in place of Özgecan Aslan, he might feel the wish to 'take arms and seek retribution,' but added that 'the state should not react in this way' as aggravated life imprisonment would be the appropriate sentence for such criminals.