Gulnara Karimova left without lawyers and loses property
The trial of Gulnara Karimova was to be held on January 8, but she allegedly refused to participate in it, as prosecutors with an armed convoy came for her. This was reported in social network by the lawyer Grégoire Mangeat. Since last year, he has been denied entry to Uzbekistan. A Swiss lawyer noted that there were no local lawyers at the hearings.
According to Grégoire Mangeat, one lawyer, under pressure from the authorities, refused to represent Gulnara’s interests, and the second went on a business trip. It is not yet clear why the authorities, in the absence of defenders, are in a hurry to complete the process soon. Their algorithm of actions can be understood due to the actions of American Themis. The daughter of former President of Uzbekistan, Gulnara Karimova, and former CEO of the Uzbek subsidiary of MTS LLC “Uzdunrobita”, Behzod Akhmedov, are accused in the United States of laundering money and receiving a bribe of $865 million, as reported by the New York Southern District Attorney on March 7, 2019.
The current leaders of the country are aware of all corruption actions. The General Director of the Uzbek Agency for Communications and Informatization, Abdulla Aripov, has been leading the industry for ten years, having left his post in 2012. He is now the Prime Minister, who was previously held by the current President, Shavkat Mirziyoev. It is logical that they should be the main witnesses in the court of jurisdiction of any interested state.
Another expert assessment is that the President and the expected severe verdict against Gulnara will be used by the President in the fight against corrupt officials from Mirziyoev’s surroundings. Thus, he can get rid of obligations to compromised colleagues in the difficult period of a change of power after the death of Islam Karimov and will clear the field for a younger and more professional team of managers.
The Prosecutor General’s office of Uzbekistan stated that at some addresses of Gulnara Karimova’s residence “985 objects of art (paintings, suzane, jewelry, ceramics, wood art, etc.) were recognized and arrested; they were recognized as material, cultural and artistic values, the total amount of which exceeds 12,7 billion soums (almost $1 340 000)”.
Now, Switzerland’s Federal Prosecutor’s office, together with Uzbek experts, is establishing national ownership and the subsequent return to Uzbekistan of 70 paintings, art and other artifacts discovered during a search of the daughter’s house of the first President of Uzbekistan in Geneva.
