LONDON (Ferghana) — The grandson of the first president of Uzbekistan, the son of his eldest daughter Gulnara, asked for political asylum in Britain, Ferghana news agency quoted the Uzbek service of the BBC.

Islam Karimov Jr.

(Image: bbcuzbek.com)

The grandson of the president told BBC about the intention to ask for asylum in December 2017. According to him, in the life of Gulnara Karimova an important event took place, information about which was kept in secret, but he learned about it and, judging by his words, was shocked.

It is noted that Islam did not answer the question, what kind of event was meant, despite persistent requests of journalists. According to the BBC, the lawyer advised him to apply for political asylum in the United States, but he chose Britain.

Islam Karimov is the senior grandson of the first president of Uzbekistan. He has lived in London since his criminal investigation began at his homeland with respect to his mother. Even in the presidency of her father, she was stripped of business in Uzbekistan and put under house arrest.

In July 2017, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Uzbekistan reported that two criminal cases were brought against Gulnara Karimova, for the first she was sentenced to five years of restriction of liberty, for the second, she was arrested.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the total amount of damage caused by Gulnara Karimova in two criminal cases is 8,115,617,700,000 soums ($997.5 mln at current rate). And this is not counting the legalized assets of an organized criminal group connected with Karimova, found in 12 countries, for a total of more than $1.5 bln.

In August, Islam Karimov, Jr., said that his mother had been slandered, the charges against her had been falsified, and he was preparing a compromising material for members of the Uzbek government. “I will not mention names now, but we are preparing to publish a large document with the projects of each minister and many people who are now in power (in Uzbekistan) — in law enforcement agencies and so on. Many of them had states much more: there are not $2 bln, there are $ 3-4 bln and so on. But no one talks about this”, said the son of Gulnara Karimova. However, he had not disclosed the promised information so far.