Belgium’s Return of Assets to Uzbekistan Fails to Meet International Standards and Increases Risk of Future Misuse
April 23, 2025
Statement by Central Asia Due Diligence and Uzbek Forum for Human Rights 23 April, 2025 This statement concerns the recovery of assets by Belgium that originated from bribes allegedly extorted by Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the former President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, from telecommunications companies operating in the country. In March 2025, a Brussels court ordered the confiscation of $216 million held in accounts at the local branch of the Bank of New York Mellon. Subsequently, Belgium’s Central Agency for Seizure and Confiscation allocated half of this amount to the Belgian treasury and transferred the other half
