Education and ecology officials in Uzbekistan arrested for bribery (video)

Authorities in Uzbekistan have detained two officials—a district chief of preschool and school education in Tashkent and the head of the Ecology Department in Pakhtachi District, Samarkand region—for accepting bribes. The operation was carried out by the State Security Service.

The education official allegedly accepted a $3,000 bribe in their office, promising to appoint a history teacher as director of a local school in exchange for the payment.

Meanwhile, the head of the Ecology Department in Pakhtachi District was caught accepting a $2,000 bribe from a local private company in return for approving an environmental report that would allow the company to extract gravel from the Nakvoysoy area in Qarnab village. The official also allegedly pledged future assistance in the company’s operations.

Both individuals have been charged under Article 210 (Bribery) of the Criminal Code, and pretrial detention has been enforced while investigations proceed.

Earlier, in the Tashkent region, a customs officer and, in the Samarkand region, an Emergency Situations Department head were also arrested while accepting bribes.