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Uzbekistan|life|August 2, 2017 / 12:35 PM
Gulnara Karimova's son demands her right to defend herself

AKIPRESS.COM - The son of Gulnara Karimova, once tipped to be Uzbekistan's leader, has called for his jailed mother to have her day in court, BBC said.

Ms Karimova, the daughter of former president Islam Karimov, had been missing until last week when authorities confirmed her detention.

She has been ordered imprisoned for five years on corruption charges.

Now her son, Islam Karimov Junior, is calling for her legal right to fight the charges in public.

"Give my mother a right to defend herself," he told the BBC.

"Let her say her version... they're so scared of my mother, not only her voice, her opinion, [but also] the information she has."

He said his mother had been told she only remained alive because of computer files she removed from the country before her disappearance.

"If she comes out for 10 minutes and talks, the downfall of so many people in the government will be guaranteed - and that's what they're scared of," he said.

Ms Karimova, 45, was expected to succeed her father as Uzbekistan's leader until she fell out with her family in 2014.

Before then, she held great power and influence in the country, effectively acting as the international face of the nation.

She was once the ambassador to Spain, and held her own business interests - including a fashion label and jewellery collection. She also maintained a high profile through her pop music career, where she went by the stage name "Googoosha".

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