On October 26, Kattakurgan district criminal court of Samarkand province passed a ruling against a resident of the district for an insult on a footage about the family of the Uzbek president.

According to the case file, in early summer, 19-year-old I.D. left a comment about Shavkat Mirziyoyev under the president family video on the Instagram social network. The forensic examination found in it an “insult and discrediting” the president.

The defendant plead guilty and said that after the advice of his friends, he deleted his comment. After some time, he learned that a criminal case had been opened against him; he voluntarily returned to Uzbekistan on August 24.

“He stated that he was not against the political course pursued by Shavkat Mirziyoyev, but simply because of his youth and misunderstanding, he wrote offensive words about the president,” the court ruling said.

I.D. repented of what he had done and asked the court to commute the punishment.

Judge T. Almamatov found him guilty under Public insult or slander against the President of Uzbekistan charge, as well as using the press or other media, the Internet / punishable by correctional labor for up to 3 years or restriction of freedom from 2 to 5 years or imprisonment for up to 5 years) and sentenced him to 2 years and 6 months in prison.

The court also ordered the blocking of the dilshod_oke9377 Instagram page.

In March 2021, the Criminal Code was supplemented with a provision establishing liability for public insult or slander of the president using telecommunications networks or the Internet.