One person was executed. In June the first parliamentary elections since the restoration of Latvia's independence in 1991 were held. In July the new parliament, the Saeima, reinstated the 1922 Constitution of the Republic of Latvia and chose Guntis Ulmanis as President and Head of State. He nominated Valdis Birkavs as Prime Minister. In April Andres Sergunts was executed following the rejection of his petition for clemency. He had been sentenced to death in July 1992 on two counts of premeditated murder under aggravated circumstances. Two other death sentences, both passed the previous year, were commuted. No prisoners were reported to be under sentence of death at the end of the year. Throughout the year Amnesty International asked the Latvian authorities to confirm the number of people under sentence of death, but received no reply. Amnesty International appealed for commutation of all death sentences, including that passed on Andres Sergunts, and urged the authorities to consider the complete abolition of the death penalty. In January the organization published a report entitled The Baltic States: Time to abolish the death penalty.

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