Uzbekistan Sets Prison Terms of Up to 10 Years for Joining Banned Organisations

Prison terms, fines and a public register

Uzbekistan has amended its legislation on extremism, setting prison terms of five to 10 years for participation in extremist, separatist, fundamentalist or other banned organisations, according to an announcement by the Justice Ministry. The changes also introduce administrative penalties for specified activities involving extremist materials and symbols, alongside a public electronic register maintained by the ministry.

Citizens face fines of 50 to 100 times the basic calculation amount for the administrative offences. Officials face fines of 100 to 150 times that amount. Administrative detention of up to 15 days is an alternative punishment, and items involved in the offence are subject to confiscation.

The legislation also replaces the term "religious extremism" with "extremism" in existing legal provisions. Alongside the criminal penalties, the changes set out how organisations, materials and certain online sources will be recorded in a register accessible through the Justice Ministry's official website.

The Senate of the Oliy Majlis approved the legislation on August 13, 2026. The law takes effect on the day of its official publication. The announcement does not specify that publication date, a launch date for the register or the monetary value to use when converting the fines into Uzbek sums.

What conduct carries a prison sentence?

The Criminal Code provision establishes a sentence of five to 10 years for participation in extremist, separatist, fundamentalist or other prohibited organisations. It addresses involvement in an organisation, while the administrative provisions described in the announcement address activities involving materials, attributes and symbols.

The wording covers several categories of organisation. Separatism generally refers to efforts to separate a territory from an existing state. For readers assessing the change, the central legal issue is the conduct covered by each provision: participation in a prohibited organisation carries the prison term, while the specified material and symbol offences carry the administrative sanctions described below.

The minimum and maximum prison terms give the sentencing range established by the amendment. The announcement does not provide a breakdown of sentences for different forms of participation or identify individual organisations to which the provision will apply.

Which materials and symbols are covered?

The amendments to the Code of Administrative Liability cover producing specified materials or keeping them for distribution. The categories include material containing ideas of extremism, separatism or fundamentalism; calls for massacres or the forcible displacement of citizens; and content intended to cause panic among the population.

The provision also covers making or storing the attributes or symbols of extremist and terrorist organisations for distribution or display. In ordinary terms, this concerns identifying signs or emblems associated with those organisations, with the stated purpose of distributing or showing them.

Purpose is part of the wording described in the announcement. For the storage of materials, the provision refers to an intention to distribute them. For organisational attributes and symbols, it refers to an intention to distribute or display them. Those details help explain which activities the new administrative rules address.

The sanctions combine a financial penalty or a short period of detention with confiscation of the items involved. Confiscation means those items are taken away as part of the legal response to the offence.

How large are the administrative penalties?

Uzbekistan expresses these fines as multiples of its basic calculation amount, a standard monetary unit used to calculate certain legal payments and penalties. To find the amount payable in sums, the applicable basic calculation amount must be multiplied by the number specified in the penalty.

• Citizens: a fine of 50 to 100 times the basic calculation amount.
• Officials: a fine of 100 to 150 times the basic calculation amount.
• Alternative punishment: administrative detention for up to 15 days.
• Items involved in the offence: confiscation.

The difference between the two fine bands is substantial. The minimum fine for an official, at 100 times the basic calculation amount, equals the maximum fine for a citizen. The maximum for an official is 150 times the amount, compared with 100 times for a citizen.

Administrative detention is a separate sanction from the prison sentence of five to 10 years for participation in a banned organisation. Readers need to keep the two provisions distinct: the law assigns different penalties to different conduct.

When can a repeated offence become a criminal case?

Senate discussions described an administrative penalty as the initial response to certain offences involving the production of extremist materials or their storage for distribution. Criminal liability would follow if the conduct were repeated after an administrative punishment had been imposed.

For the material offences discussed by senators, that creates a sequence: an initial violation can lead to an administrative sanction, and repetition after that sanction can bring criminal liability. The earlier punishment is therefore an important part of the route to a later criminal case.

The prison term for participation in a banned organisation belongs to a different provision. The five to 10 year range is attached to participation, while the Senate explanation concerns escalation for certain repeated acts involving materials. The announcement gives no sentencing range for those repeated material offences.

The legislative steps described are:

• August 13, 2026: the Senate approved the law and discussed the treatment of initial and repeated material offences.
• Justice Ministry announcement: the ministry outlined the Criminal Code and administrative amendments.
• Official publication: the law enters into force on that day.

What will appear in the electronic register?

The amendments to the Law on Countering Extremism assign the Justice Ministry responsibility for maintaining an electronic register of extremist organisations and materials or sources. The register will be placed on the ministry's official website and be open for public consultation.

Its scope extends beyond organisations already recognised as extremist. It will also include organisations whose activities have been suspended because of their connection to extremist activity. Readers consulting the register will therefore need to pay attention to the recorded status of each organisation.

The register will contain four categories:

• Organisations whose activities have been suspended in connection with extremist activity.
• Organisations recognised as extremist.
• Materials recognised as extremist.
• Electronic sources on telecommunications networks or the internet where extremist materials have been posted and distributed at least twice within one year.

The threshold for electronic sources gives a numerical meaning to repeated activity: two or more instances within a year. The register can therefore identify both individual materials and an electronic source associated with repeated posting and distribution.

Public access gives people and organisations a place to consult the official record. Its practical value will depend on the entries showing the relevant organisation, material or source and its legal status accurately.

How does material reach the Supreme Court?

State bodies responsible for countering extremism begin the process of seeking recognition of a material or source as extremist. They submit a petition to the Prosecutor General's Office, accompanied by an expert assessment confirming the presence of extremist material.

The Prosecutor General's Office then checks whether the documents supporting the request are substantiated. If it agrees with the request, the prosecutor general or a deputy submits an application to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court considers recognition of the material or source as extremist under the procedure established by the law. The route therefore involves an assessment submitted by a responsible state body, a review by prosecutors and an application to the country's highest court.

An expert assessment has a specific role in that process: it supports the petition by examining the content. Prosecutors review the grounds for the application, and the Supreme Court makes the judicial determination described in the legislation. Those stages explain how content can move from an initial state assessment to formal recognition as extremist.

A broader term and protection for people who report activity

The replacement of "religious extremism" with "extremism" removes the religious qualifier from the affected legal wording. This places the terminology alongside provisions that expressly address extremist, separatist and fundamentalist ideas and activities.

Senators also said the legislation would clarify the concept of extremism and improve mechanisms protecting people who report extremist activity. The announcement gives no detailed account of those protection mechanisms or the revised definition. Those parts of the law matter to anyone seeking to understand the full scope of the changes.

The package brings together several concrete changes: a prison range for participation in banned organisations, administrative penalties for specified material and symbol offences, a route to criminal liability for certain repeated acts, and a public register supported by a process involving prosecutors and the Supreme Court.

For citizens, officials and organisations, the immediate practical points are the conduct covered by each provision, the purpose attached to producing or storing materials and symbols, and the status of entries in the register. The official publication date determines when the amendments begin to apply.

Key Points

• Participation in extremist, separatist, fundamentalist or other banned organisations carries a prison sentence of five to 10 years.
• Specified material and symbol offences carry fines or administrative detention of up to 15 days, with confiscation.
• Citizens face fines of 50 to 100 times the basic calculation amount; officials face 100 to 150 times.
• Senate discussions described criminal liability for certain repeated material offences after an administrative punishment.
• The Justice Ministry will maintain a public electronic register covering organisations, materials and qualifying electronic sources.
• Applications to recognise materials or sources as extremist proceed through the Prosecutor General's Office to the Supreme Court.
• The Senate approved the law on August 13, 2026. It takes effect upon official publication.