The owner of a hotel in Tashkent, where Russian journalist Inessa Papernaya and two others died in October 2024, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison. Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court press service reported the information to Daryo.
The tragedy occurred at the Karaman Palace hotel, where 47-year-old Inessa Papernaya and two men died from gas poisoning that entered the ventilation system after a swimming pool cleaning.
On July 25, 2025, the Yakasaraisky District Court on criminal cases of the city of Tashkent announced the verdict against the defendants in the case. According to the court’s decision, the hotel owner, A.H., was sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment. Two individuals who sold the heating boiler to the hotel, and the plumber who installed it (Z.J., A.Yu., N.K.), were sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment.
All defendants were found guilty under paragraph “a” of Part 4 of Article 186 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan (Production, storage, transportation for the purpose of marketing, or sale of goods, performance of work or provision of services that do not meet safety requirements).
The court ordered the recovery of compensation in the amount of 67 million 588 thousand soums in favor of the legal representative of the deceased journalist. The legal representatives of another deceased Russian citizen will be paid compensation in the amount of 60 million 688 thousand soums.