PRESS RELEASE ?On Amnesty in Connection with the Fourteenth Anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan?

The Senate of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan adopted a Resolution ?On Amnesty in Connection with the Fourteenth Anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan?.

The Resolution on amnesty envisages:

1. To release from punishment the convicts of first time offences, which are not especially grave:

a) women;

b) persons aged under 18 at the time of committing the crime;

c) men who have reached the age of 60;

d) citizens of foreign states.

2. To release from punishment persons who committed the crime out of imprudence and first time convicts of crimes, which do not represent a great social danger or constitute less grave crimes.

3. To release from punishment persons (except for those who committed a premeditated murder under aggravating circumstances) who, within a year before present Resolution comes into effect in line with the order set by law, are found to be suffering serious diseases that hinder serving the sentence or the disabled persons of the first and second groups.

4. To release from punishment the convicted persons (except for those who committed a premeditated murder under aggravating circumstances), whose unserved term does not exceed two years and with respect to whom sentences came into force on the day of issuance of the present Resolution;

5. To release from punishment fully reformed first time convicts who were sentenced up to a 10-year term, including for involvement in the activity of banned organizations, committing as a member of this groups crimes against peace and security or public safety.

6. To dismiss all investigations and cases not heard in the Court on crimes committed by persons listed in the Clauses 1 and 2 of the present Resolution.

7. To abridge the unserved term of sentence for persons not eligible for release under the present Resolution:

a) convicted of premeditated crimes up to a 10-year imprisonment inclusive ? for one third;

b) convicted of premeditated crimes to more than a 10-year imprisonment ? for one quarter.

8. Not to extend:

a) the effect of the present Resolution with respect to special dangerous recidivists; persons regularly breaching the order of service of sentence; as well as persons formerly released from punishment as pardon or parole and reverted to committing premeditated crimes;

b) the effect of the Clauses 1-4, 6, 7 of the present Resolution with respect to persons convicted of involvement in the activity of banned organizations, committing as a member of this groups crimes against peace and security or public safety.

In view of the aforesaid, it is expected to release over 3500 persons who serve the sentence in imprisonment facilities and represent little social danger.

It should be noted that the Resolution on amnesty is applicable with respect to persons who committed crimes prior to its enactment and those convicted by the Courts of the Republic of Uzbekistan irrespective of the place of serving the sentence.

The decision on application of the amnesty is made individually with respect to each person. In the absence of the necessary data the review of the issue on application of the amnesty is postponed until obtaining the additional material but no more than two months. After this the decision is made on the ground of available documents. Inquiries by the bodies applying the Resolution on amnesty are executed without delay.

Amnesty is not applied with respect to persons whose death penalty is commuted as pardon to an imprisonment sentence.

The term of sentence passed by the court ruling is taken into account in determining the clause of the Resolution that might be applied with regard to a certain convict.

A conviction dismissed or served in accordance with the procedure established by law is not taken into consideration in applying the Resolution on amnesty. Also persons are deemed to be not convicted, whose offences are not criminal in accordance with the current criminal legislation. Also it is not taken into consideration the conviction of persons who served the sentence for crimes committed out of imprudence as well as punishments without imprisonment for premeditated offences.

Persons should be deemed to be prior released from punishment as pardon or parole, who have been released from punishment passed by the Court on the basis of Decrees by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan or a Resolution of the Senate of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan irrespective of serving or dismissing that conviction and of criminal liability without court ruling.

Provided that in considering the application of the Resolution on amnesty there are established grounds to apply with respect to the convict Decrees by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan or a Resolution of the Senate of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on amnesty issued previous years, the issue of application of these Decrees is considered in series by a body, which currently has the case under review.

Obtaining from corresponding bodies of foreign states the necessary information on the issues of citizenship of such persons or existence of their past convictions is carried out in accordance with international agreements and conventions.

After release from punishment on the basis of the Resolution on amnesty, foreign citizens, who do not have legal grounds for staying in the Republic of Uzbekistan, are subject to deportation from the country in accordance with procedures established by the Resolution of Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan #408 dated November 21, 1996.

The above mentioned Resolution came into effect on November 30, 2006 and is subject to execution within three months. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan is made responsible for its implementation.