On 4 June 2026, the supervisory review panel of the Fergana Regional Court upheld the conviction and sentence imposed on a woman who had been living with HIV since 2009 and had been formally warned by health authorities of her legal obligation not to expose others to HIV infection.
According to the judgment, the woman entered into a religious marriage with the complainant in June 2025 and lived with him in Margilan. The court found that she did not disclose her HIV-positive status to her partner and engaged in regular unprotected sexual relations with him until 30 September 2025, thereby knowingly placing him at risk of HIV transmission. She was convicted under Article 113(4) of the Criminal Code for exposing another person to the risk of HIV infection.
The first-instance judgment was issued by the Margilan City Court for Criminal Cases on 5 January 2026. Applying Article 57 of the Criminal Code, the court imposed a sentence of four years’ restriction of liberty rather than imprisonment.
The complainant challenged the sentence, arguing that it was too lenient and requesting a custodial sentence as well as compensation for material and moral damages. However, the supervisory review court noted that during the original proceedings the complainant had stated that the accused had compensated the material damage, that he had no further claims against her, and had even requested leniency. The court also considered the accused’s admission of guilt, remorse, lack of previous convictions, and the complainant’s earlier statement that he had no claims against her.
Finding no legal grounds to alter the lower courts’ decisions, the Fergana Regional Court dismissed the complainant’s supervisory appeal and left unchanged both the Margilan City Court judgment of 5 January 2026 and the appellate ruling of 7 April 2026. The sentence of four years’ restriction of liberty therefore remained in force.
