Uzbekistan's Karimova can't get a fair trial - lawyer

A Swiss lawyer representing Gulnara Karimova, the jailed elder daughter of late Uzbek ex-president Islam Karimov, said on Friday she has not been heard from for months and could not be guaranteed a fair trial.

"Given the impossibility for me to contact and to converse with my client, I am prevented from assisting and defending Mrs Gulnara Karimova in a manner that is compatible with the guarantee of a fair trial," Gregoire Mangeat said in an emailed statement.

The Uzbek Prosecutor General's office said earlier on Friday that Karimova was in custody following a 2015 conviction for extortion and embezzlement and was being investigated for more crimes.

"A request for the suspension of the investigation has therefore been lodged with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland," Mangeat said, adding that Uzbek authorities were seriously violating fundamental human rights guarantees.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)