Uzbekistan’s court on Monday sentenced 23 people including an Indian to prison over the brutal death of about 68 children that were linked to contaminated cough syrups that were produced by India’s Marion Biotech, following a six-month-long trial.
The Central Asian country had previously stated that 65 fatalities were associated with the medications. However, last month, prosecutors at the Tashkent city court revised the death count, revealing that two additional individuals had been implicated during the hearings.
The accused, among them an Indian citizen, were sentenced to imprisonment durations spanning from two to 20 years. They were convicted on charges of tax evasion, distributing substandard or counterfeit drugs, abusing their positions, negligence, forgery, and bribery.
Singh Raghvendra Pratar, serving as an executive director of Quramax Medical, a firm retailing medications manufactured by India’s Marion Biotech in Uzbekistan, received the lengthiest prison sentence of 20 years.
Former high-ranking officials responsible for authorizing the importation of medicines also received substantial prison terms.
In its ruling, the court determined that an indemnity totaling $80,000 (equivalent to 1 billion Uzbek sums) would be disbursed to the families of 68 children who tragically lost their lives due to the syrup, along with four additional children who sustained disabilities as a result.
Furthermore, the parents of eight other affected children are set to receive compensation ranging from $16,000 to $40,000. As outlined in the Supreme Court statement, the compensation funds will be gathered from seven of the individuals convicted in the case.
