Lawyer arrested in Tashkent for accepting $20,000 to alter court sentence (video)

In Tashkent, a lawyer has been arrested after accepting $20,000 in exchange for reducing a defendant’s sentence through connections within the legal system. The arrest was reported by UzA, with law enforcement agencies capturing the lawyer with physical evidence.

The lawyer, based in Tashkent, had promised to influence the appeal of a 1999-born individual, whose case was being reviewed by the city’s cassation court after a 10-year sentence was imposed by the Yashnabad District Court in 2024. The lawyer offered to use his official connections to secure a lighter sentence.

Authorities apprehended the lawyer after he received $5,000 for each year of sentence reduction, totaling $20,000 for reducing the sentence to four years.

The investigation continued, leading to the arrest of a second lawyer—an associate of a bank in Tashkent—who was caught receiving $15,000 from the initial lawyer.

Further investigation revealed that the bank lawyer had attempted to leverage his family ties to the prosecutor’s office to facilitate the bribery. Appropriate legal measures are being taken in this regard.

A criminal case has been filed against both lawyers under Articles 25,168 (Fraud), Clause 4, Clause "a", and Article 28,211 (Bribery), Clause 3, Clause "a". Investigations are ongoing.

This follows a similar case in Tashkent, where the assistant mayor of a community gathering in the Uchtepa district was caught accepting $30,000 in bribes from a citizen.

                                                                                                                                                        Mohimbegim Ma'rufalieva