Swiss federal prosecutors say they have indicted the daughter of a former president of Uzbekistan on charges including money laundering, bribery and participation in a criminal network that used “violence and intimidation.”
The popularity of religious figures in Uzbekistan is tied to their legitimacy, itself derived from their formal positions within government-affiliated religious institutions.
President Shavkat Mirziyoev won praise from devout Muslims for lifting draconian restrictions on the faith held over from predecessor Islam Karimov. But from a quieter call to prayer to calls to shun the niqab and a crackdown on Islamic websites, policy is now going back in the other direction.