Uzbekistan: 23 jailed over child deaths linked to cough syrup

BBC News:

An Uzbekistan court has sentenced 23 people to prison over the deaths of 68 children linked to contaminated cough syrup.

The defendants were found guilty of tax evasion, sale of substandard or counterfeit medicines, abuse of office, negligence, forgery, and bribery.

The sentences range from two to 20 years.

The number of deaths announced at Tashkent City Court was higher than previously reported.

Some 65 deaths were recorded at the start of the six-month trial, and prosecutors added three more last month.

The contaminated syrups were manufactured by Marion Biotech in India and distributed by Quramax Medical in Uzbekistan.

The longest sentence of 20 years was handed to Singh Raghvendra Pratar, an executive director at Quramax Medical.

Former senior officials who had been responsible for licensing imported medicine were also handed lengthy sentences, according to Reuters news agency.