The Code of Administrative Responsibility includes two new articles. They provide fines for failure to comply with the legitimate requirements of a serviceman (employee) of the National Guard and opposition to the performance of his official duty.
The protocol on the administrative offense in this case is drawn up by the bodies of the National Guard, cases on them are considered by administrative courts. President Mirziyoev signed the relevant law, it came into force on October 30.
Changes in legislation prohibit employees from joining political parties. Guard units of the National Guard were exempted from paying corporate income tax and their services – from VAT.
Counteraction to the National Guard is punishable by fines. Activists were especially guarded by the punishment “for public appeals in any form for non-compliance with the legitimate requirements of a member of the National Guard in connection with his duties, as well as the dissemination of knowingly false fabrications in order to provoke mass disobedience to the National Guard troops (employees)”. A fine from $70 to $120 or an administrative arrest of up to 15 days is applicable for this. Thus, there will be more arbitrariness on the part of the presidential power structure; the National Guard can interpret any social activity as a threat to the law and order. Also, now the administrative penalty is the failure to take measures to implement the written submissions of the National Guard to eliminate the causes and conditions of offenses.
As a former law enforcement officer explained to an ACCA journalist, “there is an additional strengthening of presidential power. Part of the punitive functions of the former National Security Service, and now the State Security Service, is transferred to the power structure and becomes an instrument for the possible suppression of mass unrest. Amendments to the laws turn the National Guard into the personal army of the President.” This statement, for example, confirms the presence of the National Guard on the spontaneous protest in Khorezm, when people blocked the highway, not achieving compensation for demolished houses.
The authorities of Mirziyoev can count on unconditional devotion to the National Guard, because the first deputy commander is the father of the son-in-law of the head of state Batyr Tursunov, whose son Oybek Tursunov is married to Saida Mirziyoeva.
The National Guard was created as a structural unit within the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan. In 2017, it was removed from the subordination of the military officers and made an independent service.
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