The news has yet to be confirmed by the government, which insisted yesterday that the President was hospitalised but in a stable condition.
Advertisement
Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s daughter said on Wednesday (Aug 31) that her father was recovering from a brain haemorrhage, countering speculation that he had died.
The government of Central Asia’s most populous country said on Sunday that Karimov was undergoing hospital treatment, but provided no details.
The BBC’s Abdujalil Abdurasulov says that the announcement caught many by surprise in authoritarian Uzbekistan, a country where any information about the president’s health is treated like a state secret.
“According to experts, a full medical examination and follow-up treatment will take a certain time”, the statement added.
RFERL/RL publishes that he was scheduled to make a public appearance in Tashkent on September 1 at celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence from the Soviet Union.
There has been no official word on the 78-year-old Karimov’s condition since the government announced on August 28 that he had been hospitalized for an undisclosed ailment. His elder daughter, Gulnara, has not appeared in public since several media including the BBC reported in 2014 that she had been placed under house arrest.
Islam Karimov’s daughter Lola Karimov asked people to respect the family’s right to privacy. The most likely successor, he said, is Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Moscow has expressed its concern over Karimov’s state of health.
Advertisement
The US State Department’s 2015 human rights report highlighted Uzbekistan’s “torture and abuse of detainees by security forces” and “denial of due process and fair trial”.
