Illegal fishing case reaches court in Bukhara

A case of illegal fishing in Bukhara has been brought to court.

The incident was discovered during an environmental control raid on a natural reservoir in the "Qoraqir-1" contour located in the "Jongeldi" MFY in the Peshku district. During the raid, two citizens named S.S. and A.J. were detained while picking up fish caught in longline nets on the shore of the reservoir. Fishing nets and a rubber boat were found near them. As a result of the investigation, it was revealed that they had illegally caught 650 Aral sea bass.

According to Farrukh Ikromov, a judge of the Peshku district court for criminal cases, according to the calculations of environmental authorities, the damage caused to nature by the perpetrators amounts to 267 million 800 thousand soums. During the preliminary investigation, the actions of the defendants were assessed as theft in large quantities under Article 169, Part 4 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Having thoroughly analyzed the case materials, the court established that Peshku balig'i LLC leased 1961 hectares of the Qoraqir reservoir. However, it was also revealed that this company did not have a quota for industrial fishing. Accordingly, in accordance with the rules approved by Resolution No. 80 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated February 9, 2024, fish living in natural reservoirs are considered state property.

Another situation arose during the court case. In addition to 1 rubber boat and 35 longline nets, a total of 1,077 fish were found at the scene, including 983 Aral sea bass and 94 Aral sea bass. However, the court did not prove with reliable evidence that 333 Aral sea bass and 94 Aral sea bass in 3 bags and 25 nets were caught by S.S. and A.J. The reason is that the identity of the citizen who left the scene in a motorboat during the raid was not determined, and the perpetrators stated that they did not recognize them or even pay attention to them. Accordingly, the court applied the legal principle established by the Constitution and the Code of Criminal Procedure that “irrefutable doubts are resolved in favor of the defendant.” Therefore, this part was excluded from the defendants’ indictment.

According to the court’s verdict, S.S. and A.J. were each sentenced to 4 years of restriction of liberty and 2 years of deprivation of the right to hunt. In addition, it was determined that 276 million 800 thousand soums of damage caused to nature will be recovered from the defendants jointly and severally.