It seems like Gulnara Karimova is never out of the news for long. Once a would-be celebrity with property and other assets in countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, the former Uzbek president's eldest daughter was placed under house arrest in 2014.
In July 2017, nearly a year after her father's death, the Prosecutor-General's Office announced Karimova had been convicted of financial crimes and membership in an organized criminal group in 2015 and was in prison.
On June 23, Karimova's daughter, Iman, posted a statement, purportedly from her mother. The statement said $1.2 billion of her assets had been returned to Uzbekistan, something Uzbekistan's Finance Ministry later denied. Karimova apologized in the statement and asked for forgiveness.
Just a few days later, some celebrities in Uzbekistan started posting messages of support for Karimova's release on social networks, but that was followed shortly after that by other celebrities posting messages against freeing Karimova.
What is happening with her? Could she be freed from prison? Are the authorities now ready to release Karimova from prison, and if so, why?
RFE/RL's media-relations manager, Muhammad Tahir, moderated a discussion on the recent news about Karimova.
From London, Fatima Kanji, a research and policy manager at the International State Crime Initiative, joined the talk. Also from London, veteran Central Asia expert Alisher Ilkhamov of the School of Oriental and African Studies, took part as well. From RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, we were pleased to welcome longtime member Zamira Eshanova. And I naturally had a few words to throw into the conversation.
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