A court in the Surxondaryo region has handed down a sentence in a case involving the illegal cutting of 217 trees in the city of Termez. According to the regional Department of Ecology and Climate Change, the damage to nature exceeded 2 billion soums.
The case was heard in the appellate instance of the regional criminal court. Investigative materials indicate that the former head of the Termez city construction department and the director of “Mansur Tekstil Termiz” LLC conspired to organize the relocation of trees on the grounds of a legal technical school in the “Do‘stlik” neighborhood to facilitate the construction of a multi-story residential building. A contract worth 20 million soums was initially signed between the parties.
However, the trees were inventoried by staff from the regional Ecology Department and the National Guard, and the request to relocate or cut down valuable species was rejected in accordance with legal requirements. Despite this, 61 Eldar pines, 36 Virginia junipers, 101 oriental thujas, 16 plane trees, and 4 mulberry trees — a total of 217 trees — were arbitrarily cut down.
The Ecology Department calculated the damage to flora at 2,069,437,500 soums. The collected documents were submitted to the prosecutor's office, and the case was subsequently sent to court.
During the appellate hearing, the former construction department head pleaded not guilty and requested an acquittal. He claimed he believed there was permission to cut the trees and that he was merely “assisting” the construction company. However, the judicial panel, after analyzing the evidence, witness testimonies, and expert conclusions, found him guilty under Part 3 of Article 198 of the Criminal Code (intentional damage, destruction of crops, forests, trees or other vegetation causing large-scale damage).
The court sentenced him to two years of correctional labor with 20% of his salary deducted to state revenue. Taking into account the time already spent in pre-trial detention, the final sentence was set at 1 year, 5 months, and 15 days.
Under Article 198 of the Criminal Code, intentional damage or destruction of vegetation causing large-scale damage is punishable by a fine of 500 to 600 times the base calculation value, 360 to 480 hours of community service, 2 to 3 years of correctional labor, 3 to 5 years of restricted freedom, or 3 to 5 years of imprisonment. If the material damage is compensated in triple amount, the penalties of restricted freedom or imprisonment are not applied.
The amount of damage to nature is calculated based on Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 464 of November 22, 2022. According to the document, during the period of the moratorium on cutting valuable trees and shrubs not included in the state forest fund, the damage amount is calculated at double the rate.
It should be noted that since 2022, Uzbekistan has extended the moratorium on cutting valuable tree and shrub species not in the state forest fund indefinitely.
Source: www.gazeta.uz