An individual from the Tashkent region was convicted under Article 113(4) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, which criminalises knowingly placing another person at risk of HIV infection. According to the trial court, he had been diagnosed with HIV in 2019 and was under medical supervision. However, he entered into a legal marriage in early 2024 and engaged in unprotected sexual relations with his spouse between March 2024 and April 2025, conduct the court considered a “deliberate act of exposing her to HIV”. The court found the defendant guilty based on his confession, the spouse’s testimony, medical records, and other evidence examined at trial.
The trial court imposed what it deemed to be a lenient sentence—four years of restriction of liberty—citing multiple mitigating circumstances including his disability status, absence of prior convictions, responsibility for two minor children, and his position as the family’s sole provider. The court relied on Article 57, which allows for a penalty below the statutory minimum in exceptional cases.
On appeal, the defendant argued for further leniency, emphasising his parental responsibilities, need to work, and need to travel for medical treatment. However, the appellate panel found that the lower court had already thoroughly considered all relevant mitigating factors and had imposed an appropriate and lawful sentence. The judges held that the conviction was correctly based on the evidence and that the penalty complied with principles of fairness, proportionality, and individualisation of punishment as outlined in national law and Supreme Court guidance.
The appellate court therefore upheld the original verdict and sentence, leaving the conviction unchanged and dismissing the appeal.
