On the 80th birthday of Islam Karimov, his grandson has applied for asylum in the UK

The grandson of the late president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, who ruled the country for 27 years until his death in 2016, has asked the British government for political asylum.

Karimov’s grandson’s lawyers in London shared this information with BBC News.

The request for political asylum coincided with Islam Karimov’s birthday.

In Uzbekistan, authorities have opened a criminal case against Gulnara Karimova, the mother of the eldest grandson of Karimov, who was placed under house arrest upon returning to her home in Uzbekistan.

Last July, the Uzbek Prosecutor General’s Office reported that Gulnara Karimova had been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for tax evasion in 2015. The Prosecutor General’s Office has also brought a second criminal case against her. Gulnara Karimova is suspected of concealing about two billion dollars in foreign currency and about 1.5 billion dollars in accounts in 12 foreign states.

President Mirziyoyev’s government is celebrating the 80th anniversary of Islam Karimov with wide coverage in the official press. However, there is no mention either of Gulnara Karimova or her children.

In the drawings of the artist Kirpi, the younger Karimov is depicted with the caption, “Donate to me on the 80th birthday of my grandfather.”