The key facts

  • The cassation court overturned the September 21 verdict of the Furkat District Court, under which the defendants had been released in the courtroom.
  • Shavkat Turdaliev received 4 years, and Rasuljon Alimov 3 years and 6 months in prison.
  • The poisoning in Fergana kindergartens occurred on February 20, 2026; the case is also linked to the embezzlement of 1.1 billion sums in budget funds.

The appeal court changed the sentence

The judicial panel on criminal cases of the Fergana Regional Court reviewed on appeal the case of the mass poisoning of children in kindergartens. By a decision of November 7, part of the September 21, 2026 verdict of the Furkat District Court against Shavkat Turdaliev, director of Garden Catering Trade LLC, and technologist Rasuljon Alimov was overturned, and a new guilty verdict was handed down, the press service of the regional courts reported (Gazeta). press service of the regional courts (Gazeta).

What changed compared to the September verdict

Under the new verdict, applying Articles 59 and 61 of the Criminal Code (sentencing and cumulation of penalties for multiple offenses), Shavkat Turdaliev was sentenced to 4 years in prison, and Rasuljon Alimov to 3 years and 6 months.

How the first verdict differed

In September, the Furkat District Court heard the case of the poisoning of 105 kindergarten pupils and the embezzlement of budget funds amounting to 1.1 billion sums. As mitigating circumstances, the court then cited the absence of prior convictions, remorse, full compensation for material damage, and the mild degree of harm to the children's health.

The course of the case from February to November

On February 20, 2026, pupils at state preschool institutions in Fergana showed signs of acute food poisoning — diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and fever; the children were hospitalized. On February 24, the Fergana Region Police Department announced that a case had been opened under the article on violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules; the same day, Gazeta published the results of its own investigation: contracts worth 100 billion sums had been concluded with Garden Catering Trade LLC, which supplied food to kindergartens on an outsourcing basis, without a tender contracts worth 100 billion sums. On February 26, it became known that, following the mass poisoning, the company's founder was urgently replaced — Muydinjon Gofurov took over from Ikboljon Bozorov.

A warning that was not acted upon

The Anti-Corruption Agency had already identified violations in the organization of meals at preschool institutions of Fergana Region back in July 2024. According to the decree of the regional khokim of July 25, 2024, Garden Catering Trade was selected as the food supplier for kindergartens in Kuvasoy and Fergana directly, which, in the agency's assessment, contradicted the law 'On Public Procurement' and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 626 of July 25, 2019. The agency submitted a recommendation to the khokimiyat to eliminate the violations and select a supplier on a competitive basis; however, as the agency noted, no practical measures were taken on it.