Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, appears to have confirmed reports the president's nephew has been arrested.
On October 16, Karimova wrote on an Instagram account believed to be authentic that her cousin Akbarali Abdullaev has been arrested.
She did not specify the charges, however.
On October 14, the online news portal Uznews.net quoted unnamed police sources as saying that Abdullaev, who was once tipped as a potential presidential successor, was arrested last week in Ferghana Province on suspicion of operating an organized crime ring.
Abdullaev and his mother, Tamara Sobirova, the president's sister-in-law, are widely believed to control large swathes of the economy in the Ferghana Valley, including industrial giants like the Ferghana oil refinery and a cement plant in the city of Kuvasoy.
On October 16, Karimova wrote on an Instagram account believed to be authentic that her cousin Akbarali Abdullaev has been arrested.
She did not specify the charges, however.
On October 14, the online news portal Uznews.net quoted unnamed police sources as saying that Abdullaev, who was once tipped as a potential presidential successor, was arrested last week in Ferghana Province on suspicion of operating an organized crime ring.
Abdullaev and his mother, Tamara Sobirova, the president's sister-in-law, are widely believed to control large swathes of the economy in the Ferghana Valley, including industrial giants like the Ferghana oil refinery and a cement plant in the city of Kuvasoy.
