Illegal fishing case reaches court in Bukhara
Feruz Sharopov, head of the information service of the Bukhara regional court, told Khabar.uz that the perpetrators violated the law and took advantage of natural resources.
A case of illegal fishing in Bukhara has been brought to court.
During an ecological control raid conducted in a natural reservoir located on the "Qaraqir-1" contour in the "Zhongeldi" MFE of the Peshku district, two citizens - 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. The court conducted a thorough analysis of the case materials. The court found that Peshku Baligi LLC leased 1,961 hectares of the Qoraqir reservoir, but 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 state property.
Another incident arose during the court proceedings. In addition to 1 rubber boat and 35 fishing nets, a total of 1,077 fish were found at the scene, including 983 Aral chub and 94 Aral oilfish. However, the court did not prove with reliable evidence that 333 Aral sea bass and 94 Aral oilfish in 3 bags and 25 nets were caught by S.S. and A.J. The reason was that the identity of the citizen who left the scene in a motorboat during the raid was not established, and the perpetrators stated that they did not know them or even paid 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 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.