Reporter detained in Kashkadarya over fraud allegations

The Supreme Court’s press secretary Aziz Obidov reported that two special correspondents of the “Aspekt 24” news agency have been found guilty of fraud.

According to the report, on November 4, 2025, the Kokkdala District Court of Kashkadarya Region ruled that A.A. (born 1988 in Tashkent Region) was guilty of extortion under Article 165, Part 2(a), and fraud under Article 168, Part 3(b) and (c) of the Criminal Code. I.E. (born 2004 in Kashkadarya Region) was found guilty of committing crimes under Articles 28 and 168, Part 3(b) and (c) of the Criminal Code (fraud).

Following the verdict, A.A. was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months of imprisonment, while I.E. received 3 years of corrective labor (under Article 62 of the Criminal Code, this equates to 1 year, 4 months, and 12 days of corrective labor to be served).

Additionally, both A.A. and I.E. were barred from working in state-involved mass media for 1 year under Article 45 of the Criminal Code.

The first-instance court ruling is now legally binding. Both parties have the right to file an appeal or protest to the Criminal Court of Kashkadarya Region within the legally established timeframe.

It is worth noting that earlier, the Deputy Hokim of Sariosiyo District in Surkhandarya Region was sentenced to 3 years and 1 month of imprisonment.