The Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland has dropped the case against Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of former Uzbek President Islam Karimov, reports Todayinfo news agency.
The decision was made on April 28 in Bellinzona. The presiding judge explained that Karimova is serving a sentence in Uzbekistan and cannot leave the country until December 2028. Therefore, the court simply cannot deliver a verdict before the statute of limitations expires.
Karimova was accused of corruption, money laundering, and leading a criminal organization. According to the investigation, she received billions of dollars in bribes from international telecommunications companies in exchange for issuing licenses to mobile operators in Uzbekistan. The prosecution alleges that she hid and laundered hundreds of millions of these funds in Switzerland through bank accounts, real estate, shell companies, and bank safes.
The trial in absentia began on April 27. Karimova's alleged close assistant, currently in Russia, was also a defendant. His case was also dismissed due to the lack of direct flights between Russia and Switzerland and international arrest warrants, which could lead to his detention during transit through a third country.
However, the investigation continues against the Geneva-based private bank Lombard Odier and its former asset manager. The prosecution accuses them of accepting Karimova's illegal funds and failing to take measures to prevent money laundering.
In July 2025, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recognized Karimova's deprivation of liberty as contrary to international norms. Uzbek authorities disagreed with this assessment.
Karimova was arrested on February 14, 2014, without a warrant and immediately placed under house arrest with her 15-year-old child. For the first 18 months, she was unable to leave the house or communicate with her family and lawyer. The trial in August 2015 took place "in Mrs. Karimova's kitchen in the presence of men in combat gear."
In April 2025, Uzbekistan received $95 million from Karimova's assets confiscated in Switzerland. The funds were placed in the Uzbekistan Vision 2030 trust fund under the UN auspices. Of this, $43.5 million was allocated to healthcare and the same amount to education. In total, Switzerland must return $313 million to Uzbekistan.
In January 2025, Karimova's sentence was commuted. The Zangiata District Court transferred her from a prison colony to a penal settlement. According to facility staff, "happy, with five or six suitcases, she left the colony."
