Prison Terms For 17 In Deadly Uzbek Dam Burst

Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court has sentenced 17 people to prison terms of between four and 10 years for corruption and misconduct over a deadly dam burst last year.

The Supreme Court said that the verdicts and sentences of the defendants, including energy officials, top officials of the state railways company, and leaders of construction companies that were involved into the construction of the dam, were pronounced on May 10.

The defendants were found guilty of embezzlement, forgery, violating safety rules, negligence, and abuse of office.

The dam at the Sardoba Reservoir in the eastern Uzbek region of Sirdaryo burst early on May 1, 2020, resulting in the deaths of six people and forcing at least 70,000 out of their homes.

Over 600 homes in neighboring Kazakhstan were also flooded in the accident.

The Sardoba Reservoir was completed in 2017 after seven years of construction work.

Kazakh officials said after the dam burst that flooding caused crop damage worth more than $400,000 — mostly to cotton, which is grown in the southern Turkistan region.