Head of the supplier behind the Fergana child poisoning sent to prison after all

The case was heard by the cassation instance of the criminal division of the Fergana Regional Court, the press service of the region's courts said.

On 7 November, the court overturned the 21 September verdict of the Furkat District Court in the part concerning the head of Garden Catering Trade and its technologist and issued a new guilty verdict. Under Articles 59 and 61 of the Criminal Code on sentencing for multiple crimes, the head received four years in prison and the technologist three years and six months.

In September, the defendants were found guilty of violating sanitary legislation, embezzlement, theft and forgery of documents. These articles carry up to eight years in prison with confiscation of property. However, the defendants were then released in the courtroom because they had compensated for the damage: the head received three years and six months of restricted freedom, the technologist three years of restricted freedom, and the director and accountant three years of corrective labour each.

The poisoning happened in February. On 20 February, poor-quality meat dolma was delivered to state kindergartens in Fergana, and the next day 105 children were hospitalised with acute diarrhoea and signs of poisoning.

Investigators found salmonella and staphylococcus in the dolma. E. coli was found in 80 of 316 swabs taken from the company's kitchen, and Staphylococcus aureus in another 10. Spoiled flour, salt and cucumbers were stored in the warehouses.

It was reported earlier that a mass poisoning of children in Tashkent region left more than a hundred children under medical observation.