GENEVA (AP) — A Swiss court on Tuesday dismissed a trial against the daughter of a former president of Uzbekistan on charges including money laundering and bribery, noting that she is in prison at home and has not been allowed to take part in the proceedings.
The Swiss case against Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of former President Islam Karimov, was abandoned one day after the trial opened in the southern city of Bellinzona. It had been set to run through May 22.
The presiding judge said Uzbek authorities had indicated that Karimova, 53, would not be released until after her full sentence is completed in December 2028 on convictions in Uzbekistan including embezzlement. The judge said the charges in Switzerland will have elapsed under the statute of limitations.
Karimova was first convicted in Uzbekistan in 2015. She was initially ordered to serve her sentence at her daughter’s home, but a 2019 court ruling placed her behind bars for violating the terms of her confinement.
She is now serving a 13-year sentence for organizing a criminal group, extortion and embezzlement. Uzbek news outlet Podrobno reported Monday that Karimova has been held in a women’s penal colony in outskirts of the capital, Tashkent, since early last year.
The Swiss case centered on alleged bribery and money laundering involving assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars and a crime ring known as “The Office,” which involved several dozen people and multiple companies.
The trial will continue against Swiss private bank Lombard Odier and a former employee over allegations from Swiss prosecutors that they had a “decisive role” in hiding the proceeds of the crime ring’s activities.
Lombard Odier has said the charges against it — which it contests and will defend against — center on “organizational shortcomings in prevention measures,” not allegations of involvement in money laundering.
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