One morning during her visit, black-clad commandos descended on ropes to the balcony of the Tashkent flat where she was staying with her mother. Iman Karimova said she visited Tashkent for a planned holiday in early 2014, when she was 15 and studying for her GSCEs at Brighton College, a British private school where she had boarded for the previous three years. Soon after, she disappeared from public view amid rumours of her arrest. In 2014, however, Gulnara Karimova’s fortunes took a nosedive, shortly after a public spat in which she had accused her sister of conspiring against her and her mother of sorcery. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/APĪs the economy of the post-Soviet country flatlined and millions of Uzbeks worked gruelling shifts on building sites in Russia to earn money to keep their families afloat, Karimov’s two daughters lived lives of luxury, hopping between Uzbekistan and the west. Her father ruled the country from its independence in 1991 until his death in 2016, and was accused of running one of the world’s most brutal regimes, massacring hundreds of unarmed protesters in 2005, employing torture against political opponents and using forced child labour during cotton harvests.įormer Uzbekistan president Islam Karimov pictured in 2013. She has denied all corruption allegations. She has also been targeted by Swiss and Swedish anti-corruption investigations. Last week the US Department of Justice unsealed an indictment that accused her of soliciting and receiving $865m (£661m) of bribes from international telecoms companies in return for organising their Uzbek licences. She was described by US diplomats, in cables released by WikiLeaks, as a “robber baron”. The image of a dishevelled and off-balance Karimova being dragged to jail in a dressing gown and pair of pink slippers is a far cry from her life a few years ago, when she starred in expensively shot music videos, released her own line of perfumes and organised fashion shows in Tashkent that drew western celebrities such as Sting and Gerard Depardieu. Uzbek authorities say she has been transferred to prison for breaking the terms of her house arrest. Iman Karimova also provided video, apparently shot last week in the Tashkent flat where her mother has been under house arrest, of the former socialite being dragged out of the front door by guards. Her testimony provides new insight into the Gulnara saga, and also raises alarming questions about the actions of the current Uzbek authorities, led by the new president, Shavkhat Mirziyoyev, who has portrayed himself as a reformer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |