Man jailed for four years for insulting the President during live broadcast (video)

A court verdict has been issued against a man who insulted President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on social media while staying abroad.

The individual, identified as A.Y., was born in Kitob district of Kashkadarya region and currently resides in Navoi city. In February this year, while in Almaty, Kazakhstan, he went live on the TikTok platform in an intoxicated state and used extremely offensive, obscene, and degrading language to insult the honor and dignity of the head of state.

“I insulted our President in February 2023 on my TikTok profile named Sherhon. I apologize to our President, our people, and everyone. I deeply regret what I did. I said those words without realizing it. I will never say such things again. I sincerely ask everyone for forgiveness,” the defendant said during the trial.

After his permitted period of stay abroad expired, A.Y. traveled to Türkiye and later to Azerbaijan, apparently hoping that his actions would be forgotten. However, under the principle of the inevitability of punishment, he was detained in April in Azerbaijan as a result of operational measures carried out by officers of the State Security Service of Uzbekistan.

It was also established that while living in Uzbekistan, A.Y. had previously committed crimes such as theft and hooliganism and had been given a corrective sentence based on humanitarian principles.

Under the court ruling, A.Y. was found guilty under Part Three of Article 158 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment.