At least 34 people were convicted under article 126 (polygamy) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan from 2018 to 2022. In the first half of 2023, the number of convicted under this article reached four people. The Uzbek service of Azattyk reports with reference to the press service of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
According to the media outlet, the Supreme Court did not specify what punishment the convicts would suffer.
According to the legislation of Uzbekistan, violators are punished under such article with a fine from 50 to 100 basic calculated rates, that is, they will have to pay 330,000 sums, or $28. Either carry out community work for up to three years, or by restriction of liberty from one to three years, or imprisonment up to three years.
The problem was raised at the official level for the first time in Uzbekistan on March 1, 2019 at a meeting with imams and deputy imams in the Youth Center building in Tashkent. Then it was reported that officials of Tashkent city administration raised «the issue of bigamy and polygamy, which was growing in society.»
On November 25, 2015, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called on the government of Uzbekistan to put an end to the practice of polygamy, early and forced marriages.
