In June 2026, the Kogon City Criminal Court convicted a woman living with HIV under Article 113(4) of the Criminal Code for exposing another person to the risk of HIV transmission.
The woman had been diagnosed with HIV in February 2020 and was registered with the regional AIDS Centre, where she received counselling about preventing transmission. As part of the registration process, health authorities conducted an epidemiological interview, informed her of her legal obligations to disclose her HIV status to sexual partners, advised that partners should undergo HIV testing, and warned her that exposing or transmitting HIV could result in criminal liability. She signed a written acknowledgement of these obligations.
According to the prosecution, despite this warning, she lived with a man in a religious marriage from late 2020 onwards and engaged in repeated consensual sexual relations with him over several years without ensuring that he attended the AIDS Centre for counselling and preventive measures. Although the partner never acquired HIV, the authorities alleged that she had placed him at risk of infection.
At trial, the woman pleaded guilty but explained that she had informed her partner of her HIV status before they began their relationship. She stated that he knowingly chose to continue the relationship, that they had lived together as husband and wife since 2020, and that they had a son born in 2021. She acknowledged, however, that she had not told him to attend the AIDS Centre for counselling, registration, testing, and preventive services. She expressed remorse and asked the court for leniency.
The partner confirmed that he had known about her HIV status before their relationship began and had willingly married and lived with her despite that knowledge. He testified that they had maintained a regular sexual relationship throughout their marriage, that he had never attended the AIDS Centre, and that he had not been diagnosed with HIV. He told the court that he had no complaint against his wife and requested leniency.
A senior official from the regional AIDS Centre testified that the woman had been registered and counselled immediately after her diagnosis in 2020. The witness explained that once she married, her partner should have been referred to the AIDS Centre so that staff could provide counselling, assess his risk, prescribe preventive medication if appropriate, and supply protective measures. This had not occurred.
The court found the woman guilty based on her confession, the victim’s testimony, the testimony of the AIDS Centre official, epidemiological investigation records, medical documentation, and other evidence. It held that the prosecution had correctly classified her conduct as exposing another person to the risk of HIV transmission under Article 113(4).
In determining sentence, the court considered her guilty plea and genuine remorse as mitigating circumstances. It also took into account that she had no previous convictions, was a woman living with HIV, had a young child, continued to live with the complainant as a family, and that he did not seek punishment. Finding these circumstances substantially reduced the social danger of the offence, the court applied Article 57 of the Criminal Code, allowing it to impose a more lenient sentence than that ordinarily prescribed.
The woman was sentenced to three years’ restriction of liberty. She was prohibited from leaving her home except for work, study, and necessary travel, barred from participating in public events, prohibited from changing her residence or leaving Bukhara Region without the permission of the probation authorities, and placed under probation supervision.
