Deputies of Andijan kengash (council) of people’s deputies have been in no hurry to consider petition of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office (dated February 3) to initiate a criminal case against hokim Bakhromjon Khaydarov.
The legislation provides for the deprivation of a deputy of immunity by the decision of the kengash within 10 days. The resolution of the kengash on the issue of giving consent to depriving a deputy of immunity is immediately sent to the relevant prosecutor.
As the Prosecutor General’s Office reports to the online media Gazeta.uz, the hokim of Andijan is accused of causing damage to state interests in the amount of more than $160,000 as a result of violating the law during the allotment of land.
According to the preliminary investigation, the hokim allegedly violated the law and regulations on the allotment of land with a total area of 19,618 square meters in eight cases in 2019-2020, causing damage to state interests in the amount of 1 billion 779 million sums. The submission states that in connection with the presence of signs of a crime in the actions of the hokim, it’s necessary to involve him as a defendant in a criminal case and take a preventive measure.
In May 2021, people’s deputies already condemned the city’s hokim, accusing him of illegal decisions on the allotment of land. According to the publication, deputy Shukhratbek Karimov also sent a request to the Prosecutor General’s Office, taking into account a series of reports by local journalist Khurshid Daliyev about the illegal allocation of land and illegal construction work in Andijan. According to the deputy, violations of the law were also confirmed by the city department of justice. He questioned the qualifications of regional prosecutors due to their inaction on these issues and asked for a public attestation of the employees of the Prosecutor’s Office of Andijan.
In the end, the deputy was deprived of immunity on the basis of a criminal case against the company where he was the founder, and then taken into custody. The Anti-Corruption Agency and the public then came out in support of the deputy.
“A positive decision hasn’t been made in any case within the framework of the law. Why the Senate, Oliy Majlis, the Prosecutor General’s Office don’t express any claims? Why? Has freedom of speech died in Uzbekistan? So, should we also be silent? His detention is an open pressure on other deputies,” Jakhongir Zhiyanov, a colleague of the disgraced deputy, said at the time.
The ACCA expert notes that “the slowness in considering the case of Andijan hokim and the quick reaction on the part of the Prosecutor’s Office to the actions of the deputy with his legitimate claims are due to the system of power oriented towards a rigid vertical of power, which is based on efficient, but thieving officials.”
The mechanism for allocating plots is characterized by increased criminality. The phenomenon is so commonplace that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, while visiting Yangikhayot district, even casually asked the mayor of Tashkent Jakhongir Artykhodzhaev and his companions, “Are the officials distributing land among their acquaintances?” The answer was a firm “no”, although in the capital in recent years there have been major problems with land allocation, which doesn’t prevent the President from turning a blind eye to the massive violations of the law by his constant associate.
Earlier, ACCA wrote about embezzlement in the public education system in Andijan. During the investigation, the amount of embezzlement in the City Department of Public Education increased to 57 billion sums ($5 million 253 thousand US dollars).
The Prosecutor’s Office of Andijan region is now investigating financial violations in the City Department of Public Education in Andijan. The number of defendants is already approaching 40.
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