A court in Uzbekistan’s Syrdarya region has handed down a verdict against two former officers of the rapid-response service of the Khovos district Internal Affairs Department, who extorted a bribe from a citizen. The case was reported by the “Bu kun” program on the “Zo‘r tv” channel.

According to the investigation, a head of a farm in Khovos district had appealed to law enforcement agencies over an illegal situation involving a land plot. A pre-investigation check established that an individual had caused the farmer damage amounting to approximately 30–40 million soums.

However, two operational officers of the Internal Affairs Department fabricated false evidence and told the farmer that the alleged damage could not be fully recovered, but they would help him obtain 10–12 million soums. The farmer agreed to the offer. The officers then intimidated the suspect, saying: “The damage amounts to 50 million soums; if you don’t pay this sum, you will be imprisoned.”

The citizen initially brought them 24 million soums. From this money, the former officers gave 12 million to the farmer and demanded an additional bribe of 35 million soums in exchange for formalizing the case in court as an administrative offense and exempting him from criminal liability. The officers were caught in a sting operation while receiving the remaining 11 million soums.

At a hearing in the Saykhunabad district court for criminal cases, the defendants expressed remorse. The court sentenced one defendant, who actively assisted in solving the crime, to 5 years and 1 month in prison, and the second defendant to 6 years and 1 month. The court also issued a private ruling to the Syrdarya regional Internal Affairs Department aimed at preventing such incidents in the future.

Source: www.gazeta.uz