On April 8, the Ishtykhan district criminal court of the Samarkand province issued a ruling against a man for insulting the president Shavkat Mirziyoyev on social networks.
According to the case materials, a 28-year-old resident of Almalyk (a native of Ishtykhan, with no criminal record, married, father of two children, founder of a pharmaceutical company) left offensive comments under four videos between May 2 to August 31, 2023 through the “samopharmrealist9” Instagram account and photo of the president. Among them is a photo of the head of state with singer Yulduz Usmanova and a video with Saida Mirziyoyeva, who talks about the president’s dream of ridding the Uzbek people of cotton slavery.
The ruling noted that Uzbekistan authorities had created all facilities for comprehensive support for youth, provided for by the “State Youth Policies Law, and the president’s Measures to foster the effectiveness of state youth policies and support the activities of the Youth Union of Uzbekistan Decree dated 15 July 2017, presidential decree on the state program “Youth is our future” dated June 27, 2018, Cabinet of Ministers Measures to regulate the provision of educational loans to pay for education in higher, secondary specialized and vocational institutions Resolution dated August 18, 2021, by presidential decree on the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026.
The defendant pleaded guilty and expressed regret for what he had done. He said that during his work at the pharmacy he opened in the Tashkent province, tax officials fined him many times, and after seeing photos and videos on Instagram, he left offensive comments in a fit of anger.
The court took into account the guilty plea and found the man guilty under Public insult or slander against the president, as well as using the press or other media, telecommunications networks or the Internet / punishable by correctional labor up to 3 years or house arrest from 2 to 5 years or imprisonment for up to 5 years and sentenced him to correctional labor for 2 years 6 months with the recovery of 20% of his salary in favor of the state.
The court ordered the Ministry of Digital Technologies to restrict access to the man’s Instagram account.
A provision was inserted to the Criminal Code in March 2021establishing liability for public insult or slander of the president using telecommunications networks or the Internet.
In October 2023, the court sentenced a 19-year-old resident of the Kattakurgan district of the Samarkand province to 2 years and 6 months in prison for an offensive comment about the president on Instagram.
In March, the court sentenced a 27-year-old resident of Namangan, who returned from Iran, to 5 years in prison for insulting and slanderous comments about the president on Facebook, as well as for illegal travel abroad.
