Citizen who sent voice message 6 years ago sentenced to 5 years in prison

A citizen in Uzbekistan who sent religious voice messages to two acquaintances six years ago has been sentenced to five years and one month in prison. Lawyers say the court's verdict is contrary to the requirements of the law, groundless, unfair, and non-transparent.
In a criminal case, the Almazar District Court of Tashkent sentenced Sanatjon Parkhatovich Ilyusinov to five years and one month in prison on December 19, 2024, for sending religious voice messages to two acquaintances from the UAE six years ago.
Presiding judge Sarkor Shodmonov found San'atjon Ilyusinov guilty of committing a crime under Article 2441, Part 3, Subparagraph "g" and Article 156, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan.
Sanatjon Ilyusinov was sentenced to 5 (five) years and 1 (one) month in prison for a set of crimes under Article 2441, Part 3, Subparagraph "g", Article 156, Part 2, and Articles 59 of the Criminal Code.
Lawyers believe that the court's verdict is contrary to the requirements of the law, groundless, unfair, and non-transparent. In particular, Sanatjon Ilyusinov's actions do not fall under Article 156 of the Criminal Code (incitement of national, racial, ethnic, or religious hatred).
Born in Tashkent in 1992, San'atjon Ilyusinov, an artist, went to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to work in connection with his professional activities in 2018-2019. At that time, in July 2019, he sent a voice message via Telegram to two of his acquaintances that the laws in the country did not comply with Sharia and that there were non-Muslims in the legislative Senate.
The lawyers note that when sentencing Ilyusinov, the court did not take into account the fact that he had no prior convictions, that he was the sole breadwinner in the family, that he had a sick and destitute mother, a wife, and three minor children to care for, that his eldest daughter was sick, that he did not know that such a message was impossible, that the voice message was sent six years ago, and that he did not have any religious affiliation or orientation.
In addition, the fact that he has been held as a preventive measure in Detention Center No. 1 (Tashturma) for 6 months, that he sincerely regrets his actions, that he has pleaded guilty, that he, his mother, and his wife have written several applications to the court and the president expressing their remorse, that he has a positive reputation in the neighborhood, that the neighborhood has issued a letter of guarantee stating that it will be his guarantor for his supervision from now on, and other circumstances were also not taken into account.
After all, it was emphasized that there was no intent in Sanatjon Ilyusinov's actions, and that he sent a voice message 6 years ago without knowing or understanding its essence.