Three Lawyers in Uzbekistan Detained for Bribery and Abuses

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — During operational activities carried out by the State Security Service and the Prosecutor’s Office in Tashkent, Samarkand, and Guliston, the illegal activities of three lawyers were uncovered and stopped.

In the capital, a lawyer with a prior criminal record, belonging to the Tashkent Bar Association, was detained while receiving US$5,000. Investigations revealed that he had demanded US$10,000 from a criminal defendant in exchange for assistance in reducing the sentence and removing Article 135 of the Criminal Code from the charges.

In Samarkand, a local lawyer was detained while receiving US$4,000 for helping a defendant charged under Article 273 of the Criminal Code obtain a non-custodial sentence through his connections in the city court.

In the Syrdarya region, a lawyer from the Guliston bureau received US$1,500 for facilitating the initiation of a criminal case against an individual who had not paid 450 million soms for medicines, using his connections in law enforcement agencies.

Criminal cases have been opened against all three lawyers under Part 3 of Article 168(b) and Articles 28 and 211 of the Criminal Code, and investigations are ongoing.