Venera Kasimova and Yashar Khasanov were sentenced to death by the Criminal Cases Collegium of Tashkent City Court on 12 November 1992. Venera Kasimova was accused of planning the murders of two of her business acquaintances, and Yashar Khasanov of having carried out the murders. The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan turned down the appeal against their sentence on 19 April 1993. A petition for clemency to the President is currently pending. Both claim that their initial confessions were obtained under duress and they retracted their admissions of guilt in court.
