Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The State Security Service of Uzbekistan announced the prevention of illegal activities of lawyers in Tashkent and Samarkand.

The press service of the State Security Service reports that a lawyer from a law firm in Tashkent and a lawyer from a company in the construction industry promised to help a man convicted in 2021 to have his sentence commuted to a more lenient one for $75,000. The convict was sentenced to imprisonment for 8.5 years under Articles 131 (pandering or running brothels) and 135 (trafficking in persons). The agreement included assistance in removing Article 135 from the charges.

After receiving the money, both lawyers were detained. It is noted that one of them worked as a judge in the Bekabad Interdistrict Court for Civil Cases from 2015 to 2020, and the other from 1999 to 2003 was an employee of the Bukhara Regional Court for Criminal Cases.

In another case, a lawyer from a law firm, previously convicted of fraud, was detained in Tashkent while receiving US$17,000. He promised to help replace the prisoner’s sentence with a different type of punishment.

In Samarkand, a bar association lawyer was detained who promised to help the suspect avoid detention through acquaintances in the prosecutor’s office.

Criminal cases have been initiated against the detainees under Articles 168 (fraud) and 211 (bribes) through Article 28 (types of accomplices in a crime) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan. A preventive measure in the form of detention was applied to all detainees.