The Zangiota District Criminal Court examined a criminal case against a woman charged under Article 113(4) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan for knowingly placing another person at risk of HIV infection.
According to the judgment, the defendant had been registered at the Tashkent Regional AIDS Prevention Centre since November 2011 after being diagnosed with HIV. The court stated that she had been formally warned that knowingly exposing another person to HIV infection or transmitting HIV could result in criminal liability under Article 113 of the Criminal Code.
The prosecution alleged that from May 2022 onward, the defendant lived with a man in a religious marriage in the Zangiota district of the Tashkent Region. During this period, she allegedly engaged in repeated unprotected sexual relations with him without disclosing her HIV-positive status, thereby placing him at risk of infection.
Medical evidence presented to the court included certificates issued by the regional and national AIDS centres in February and March 2026 confirming that the complainant tested HIV-negative.
During the trial, the defendant fully admitted the allegations. She testified that she learned of her HIV-positive status in 2011 after her first husband, who had previously been imprisoned, died from an AIDS-related illness. She explained that after later entering into a religious marriage with the complainant in 2022, she did not disclose her HIV status because she feared separation or divorce. She stated that the complainant only learned of her diagnosis in February 2026 after police officers informed him during an inquiry. The defendant expressed remorse and asked the court for a lenient sentence.
The complainant confirmed that he had not been informed of the defendant’s HIV status before or during their relationship and stated that they had repeatedly engaged in unprotected sexual relations. He testified that he learned of her HIV status from police officers in February 2026 and subsequently underwent testing, which confirmed that he was HIV-negative. He informed the court that he continued to live with the defendant and had no claims against her, requesting that she receive a non-custodial sentence.
The court found the defendant’s guilt proven by her confession, witness statements, medical documentation, warning forms, correspondence from AIDS centres, and other evidence contained in the case file.
The court concluded that the defendant’s actions were correctly qualified under Article 113(4) because, while aware of her HIV-positive status, she knowingly engaged in conduct that placed another person at risk of HIV infection.
In determining the sentence, the court considered the defendant’s personal circumstances, her confession and remorse, the absence of complaints from the complainant, and the reduced social danger of the offence. Applying Article 57 of the Criminal Code, the court imposed a lighter penalty than that ordinarily provided under the statutory sanction.
The defendant was convicted and sentenced to three years’ restriction of liberty rather than imprisonment. The court ordered that she remain at her residence except for work, study, or necessary travel and imposed additional restrictions, including a prohibition on changing residence without permission and participating in public events. The sentence was to be supervised by the probation authorities of the Shaykhantakhur District internal affairs bodies.
