Court penalizes foreign nationals over desecration of Uzbek banknotes

The foreign nationals who set fire to Uzbek currency were identified and subjected to administrative penalties, Interior Ministry spokesperson Shohrukh Giyasov said.

According to the statement, officers of the Syrdarya regional internal affairs bodies identified the workers involved and conducted explanatory interviews with them. In connection with the incident, case materials were prepared against the individuals under Article 184-3 of the Code of Administrative Liability (production, storage, or distribution of materials promoting national, racial, ethnic, or religious hatred) and forwarded to court.

By a ruling of the Syrdarya District Criminal Court, each offender was fined the equivalent of 100 times the base calculation unit, amounting to UZS 41.2 million.

“On December 23, we took Uzbekistan’s currency and burned it. I now realize that what I did was wrong. I apologize to the people of Uzbekistan and regret my actions,” one of the offenders said.

The employer also unilaterally terminated the employment contracts with the individuals involved.

Earlier we reported that three foreign nationals had burned a 2,000-UZS banknote to light cigarettes.