The Andijon regional court [in eastern Uzbekistan] has sentenced two doctors to seven years in prison in a trial over the infection of nine patients with HIV, the Rosbalt [news agency] reports quoting a source at the Uzbek Health Ministry.

The chief doctor of the Andijon regional AIDS centre, Abdumomin Vahhobov, and the head of the centre’s epidemiology department, Tolqinjon Kokiyev, were found guilty under [Criminal Code] articles: "Violation of sanitary regulations and rules of fighting against epidemics, which led to human casualties", "Forgery in office" and were sentenced to seven years in prison.

Due to an amnesty on the occasion of an anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence, the doctors’ prison terms were reduced by one third. In line with the Uzbek Criminal Code, they are deprived of the right to hold managerial posts at medical establishments for three years.

As was noted in the process of the trial, doctors used blood as well as medications made of blood donated by an HIV sufferer, former convict Dilshod Halilov. As a result, nine people were infected with HIV. The medications and infected blood were used in various medical establishments in Andijon Region.

In line with a verdict of the Andijon regional court, Dilshod Halilov was found guilty under Uzbek Criminal Code article: "Spreading a venereal disease or AIDS" and sentenced to 11 years in maximum security prison.