In the Republic of Tajikistan, liability for hunting the snow leopard has been strengthened. Now, such crimes are subject to stricter penalties, including significant fines and imprisonment for up to 8 years.
According to the amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, Article 232¹ is now presented in a new wording and is titled: “Hunting, intentional destruction, as well as illegal acquisition, possession, transfer, or sale of the snow leopard (Central Asian leopard).” Previously, the article was titled “Hunting and intentional destruction of the snow leopard.”
In the updated version, for the specified offenses, a fine ranging from 1,200 to 1,800 calculation units or imprisonment for up to 3 years is provided. Previously, sanctions included fines from 800 to 1,200 calculation units, corrective work for up to 2 years, or imprisonment for up to 3 years.
Repeated commission of these acts now entails a fine ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 calculation units (previously 1,500 to 2,000) or imprisonment from 4 to 8 years (previously 3 to 5 years), along with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in specific activities for up to five years.
Furthermore, amendments have been made to Article 236 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan “Violation of the regime of specially protected natural areas and objects”, according to which the threshold for exceptionally large damage has been increased from 300 to 500 calculation units.
