3965 corruption-related offenses have been committed in Uzbekistan since 2017, the Deputy Prosecutor-General Erkin Yuldashev said at a briefing at the Information and Mass Communications Agency on Monday.

In particular, 2076 criminal cases were launched in 2017, 1469 - in 2018 and 420 – in the first five months of 2019. According to these criminal cases, 5,072 persons (2881, 1907 and 284) were brought to justice, including 70 (17, 48, 5) officials who held posts at the republican level, 494 (286, 191, 17) at the provincial level and 4509 ( 2578, 1668, 262) - at the level of cities and districts.

Replying to a question, how effective could be the impsoition of death penalty against the corruption, as it is practiced in China, Erkin Yuldashev noted that it is wrong to blindly copy the practice of other countries, be it China, South Korea or another country.

Bringing back the capital punishment as the last resort against corruption will not help fully eradicate it, he said. Each country has its own path and different approaches, he noted.

Erkin Yuldashev reminded that the presidential decree of May 14, 2018 (PP-3723) provided for the improvement of criminal and criminal procedure legislation. The working group formed under the Prosecutor General’s Office is currently working on a new version of the Criminal Code.

“Among the expected changes is the introduction of norms that provide for severe punishment against persons who have committed corruption offenses. The work is at the final stage. The project will be put up for public discussion,” said the Deputy Prosecutor General.

If the crime has already been committed, it is necessary to minimize its consequences and not allow the person who made the mistake to completely isolate himself from society, to re-educate him, Erkin Yuldashev said.

The latest amendments to the Criminal Code, toughening punishment for bribery (article 211) and mediation in bribery (article 212), were adopted in April 2014.