In Uzbekistan, those convicted of fraud will not qualify for parole or commutation of their sentences. This is stipulated by a law on amendments to the Criminal Code approved by the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan on Thursday.
Under the amendments, individuals convicted of theft by embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion or other mandatory payments and who have not fully compensated for the damage caused by the crime, as well as those who have committed such crimes as taking a bribe, bribery, mediation in bribery, will not be subject to parole or commutation of the sentence to a lesser sentence.
The number of fraud-related crimes “among ordinary citizens and officials” has grown in recent years, said Shukhrat Chulliyev, deputy chairman of the Judicial-Legal Affairs and Anti-Corruption Committee.
After the president signs the law and the document comes into force, “fraudsters will also sit [in jail] from call to call,” he said.
“In practice, we often find that they are given five years, six years, and those who steal billions from people or government only serve a third of that long sentence and go free. They serve only one year and think: „I will get out, and I will be free to spend the stashed money.“ Now, if they give you 6 years, you get 6 years, if they give you 8 years, you get 8 years — these people will be in jail from call to call. I think the number of cases of fraud will go down after the punishment is increased,” the senator said.
It is worth noting that under Article 167 (theft by embezzlement), 168 (fraud) and Article 184 of the Criminal Code (tax or duty evasion) in case of compensation for damage caused to property, the punishment of imprisonment or limitation of freedom is not applied.
“Gazeta.uz” reported details of a law which defines a list of corruption offences and toughens penalties for committing them.
