The driver who hit five children, killing two of them was released from custody in the courtroom of the Yangiyul district criminal court in Tashkent province.

A week later, Judge Ulugbek Ibragimov considered a similar case related to the accident, but imposed a different sentence. The first driver, guilty of the death of two children, received correctional labor, and the driver who caused the death of one person was sentenced to imprisonment. 

First case

On November 11, the Yangiyul district criminal court considered a criminal case against Rustamjon Mirzakhatamov, 31, who has a higher education and works as a dispatcher at One Cargo.

According to the case file, on June 21 at approximately 20:30 on a section of the M-34 Tashkent-Dushanbe highway in the Yangiyul district, the defendant in a Cobalt "lost control" and hit five teenagers standing on the side of the road. As a result of the accident, 18-year-old O. Z. and 17-year-old A. Z. (with the same last names) died in the intensive care unit of the Yangiyul city hospital, the other three children (two were 18, one was 14) sustained serious injuries.

The court found that the driver grossly violated five items of the Traffic Regulations, including the speed limit.

The defendant stated that he fully compensated the financial and moral damage to the victims, indicated the absence of claims from their families, promised to support them in the future, and also asked the court to mitigate the punishment.

The court decision noted that all the relatives of the deceased, the injured and their representatives gave the same testimony as Mirzakhatamov. They stated that the driver apologized to them and compensated for the damage caused, so they have no claims against him. They all asked the court to mitigate his sentence.

The court found Rustamzhon Mirzakhatamov guilty under paragraph "a" of Part 3 of Article 266 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan (violation of traffic safety rules or operation of vehicles resulting in human casualties / punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years with deprivation of a certain right).

When sentencing, the court took into account the nature of the crime, the degree of its public danger, the reasons for the act committed, the identity of the defendant, his age, the fact of full compensation for the damage caused.

The court found no aggravating circumstances, and also noted the defendant's full admission of guilt, his remorse for his actions, the absence of previous convictions, family circumstances, the absence of claims from the victims and their legal representatives, petitions filed from the place of residence, as well as the defendant's behavior before and after the crime, which were regarded as mitigating circumstances and significantly reducing the public danger of the act.

Based on the above, the court decided to apply Article 57 of the Criminal Code to the defendant, assigning him a more lenient punishment, not provided for by the sanction of the article imputed to him, namely, a punishment in the form of correctional labor.

As a result, the defendant received 3 years of correctional labor with a deduction of 20% of his earnings for the benefit of the state and deprivation of the right to drive transport for 3 years. The court cancelled the preventive measure in the form of detention, and the defendant was released right in the courtroom.

Second case

On November 18, the same court sentenced another driver guilty of causing the death of a person in a traffic accident — Islomzhon Aliboev (born in 1997, secondary special education, temporarily unemployed).

According to the case materials, on June 23 at about 9:00 p.m. on the M-39 Tashkent-Termez highway in the Yangiyul district, he hit a pedestrian, Kh. I., who was crossing the road. The victim died at the scene of the accident.

The court found that the driver violated two traffic rules. In particular, the driver, blinded by the headlights of an oncoming car, did not take measures to stop and continued driving. At this time, I. Kh. was crossing the road from the left to the right.

At the trial, Aliboev admitted his guilt and stated that he had provided all possible assistance to the relatives of the deceased and would help in the future. The injured party also petitioned for a mitigation of the sentence.

The court, chaired by Ulugbek Ibragimov, found the defendant guilty under Violation of traffic safety rules or operation of vehicles, resulting in the death of a person / punishable by imprisonment for up to 7 years with deprivation of a certain right and sentenced him to 2 years of imprisonment in a penal colony with deprivation of the right to drive transport for the same period.

Different sentences

Both defendants were single and had no previous convictions. Both pleaded guilty and compensated for the damage. However, the judge, applying Article 57 of the Criminal Code, sentenced Mirzakhatamov to a more lenient sentence, despite the death of two children and a gross violation of traffic rules. Aliboyev was sentenced to a real term for violating two traffic rules and the death of one person.

The press service of the Prosecutor General's Office reported that a cassation protest was filed against Mirzakhatamov's sentence.