On August 13, Uzbekistan amended its Code of Criminal Procedure to compel Uzbekistan’s citizens who have been imprisoned for crimes in certain foreign countries to serve the rest of their sentences in Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan has so far signed agreements with only 10 countries for imprisoned persons to be transferred to prisons in Uzbekistan to continue serving their sentences.
According to Sherzod Tokhtashev, a politician from the government-aligned Miliy Tiklanish (National Revival) party, this law does not concern Uzbeks currently imprisoned in Russia. He did however mention that there are separate appeals in parliament to return Uzbek nationals convicted of crimes in Russia to domestic jails. At the same time, there are also calls for these prisoners’ families to be brought home.
“We receive requests to return children and relatives of Uzbeks from Russian prisons to Uzbekistan. Due to the lack of an agreement with Russia on the exchange of prisoners, everyone is helpless,” said Tokhtashev.
According to Uzbek government, 20 citizens of Uzbekistan are currently serving terms in Italy, 250 in Turkey, and more than 450 in Kazakhstan.
