In Uzbekistan, the prison sentence of a convict who reads books may be reduced

^{Photo: Legislative Chamber}
In the next session of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, a draft law aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the moral rehabilitation of prisoners was discussed in the first reading.

It was noted that, taking into account foreign experience in legislation, there is a need to introduce norms aimed at encouraging prisoners' law-abiding behavior and respect for human beings, society, labor, and the rules and traditions of social life.

This project introduces a new Article 74–1 to the Criminal Code, which aims to morally rehabilitate prisoners by engaging them in reading books. According to it, for prisoners who must serve their full sentence, if they read one book from an approved list and pass an exam in the prescribed manner, their sentence may be reduced by 3 days.

Additionally, based on Articles 73 and 74 of this code, it is stipulated that the issue of conditional release or replacement with a lighter sentence will be considered when determining early release from serving the sentence.

Furthermore, it is planned to amend the Criminal Procedure Code with Article 536–1 and the Criminal Enforcement Code with Article 80–1 to establish procedural rules for reducing the sentence based on actions confirming that the prisoner has taken the path of self-education.

The draft law was conceptually accepted in the first reading.

It is reported that all 49 correctional institutions in Uzbekistan have libraries, which contain over 230,000 books, including more than 44,700 foreign books and 209 books written in Braille.

Bahodir Mamatxonov, a member of the UzMTDP faction, stated in an interview with UzA that it is stipulated that a maximum of 10 books can be read per year. The list of literature for prisoners will be approved by the Republican Center for Spirituality and Enlightenment. Such measures are emphasized to serve the moral rehabilitation of prisoners.