In December of last year, Uzbek media reported on a significant theft that occurred at the official residence of the Chairperson of the Senate of the Republic of Uzbekistan Oliy Majlis.

According to the investigation, while working as housekeepers at the highly secured “Durmen” complex between November 2 and 6, 2022, Dilnoza Toshmatova and Munojat Urinbaeva allegedly stole $12,500 from Nilufarkhon Kamalova, the daughter of Senate Chairperson Tanzila Narbayeva. The money was reportedly stored in a porcelain vessel on the lower shelf of a cupboard.

Enraged by the audacity of someone stealing from her heavily guarded home, Narbayeva, the second most powerful person in the country, mobilized the entire law enforcement apparatus and demanded that the culprits be found immediately.

On November 26 of the same year, only Dilnoza Toshmatova was charged under Article 169, Part 3, Section “v” (Theft by an organized group) and was identified as a suspect in the case.

During the investigation, Toshmatova was subjected to torture and sexual assault by officers of the Mirzo-Ulugbek District Coordination Department of Internal Affairs (UKD OVD), who forced her to confess to the crime. On December 2, 2022, at 11:45 p.m., the Mirzo-Ulugbek District Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Muzaffar Kukiyev, issued a ruling to place Dilnoza Toshmatova under arrest. Immediately following the court’s decision, Toshmatova was transferred to Detention Center No. 1 under the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan.

However, the investigation later revealed that the money was actually stolen by the son of Narbayeva’s daughter, Nilufarkhon, who had become involved in gambling. Public outcry on social media and the desire to avoid airing family scandals pushed Narbayeva to make every effort to quickly bury the “unpleasant incident” involving her corrupt family.

On December 12, 2022, Lieutenant B. Abdumalikov, an investigator from the Mirzo-Ulugbek District Coordination Department of Internal Affairs, ordered the release of Dilnoza Toshmatova from custody. Nilufarkhon Kamalova submitted a new statement claiming that the stolen $12,500 had “miraculously reappeared,” and withdrew her previous complaint. The case was closed.

The fabricated case against Toshmatova is yet another testament to the fact that the judicial system in Uzbekistan serves not the cause of justice, but the whims of officials who have been driven mad by their unchecked power and impunity.

It is clear that Senate Chairperson Tanzila Narbayeva, with influence over the Prosecutor General Nigmatilla Yuldashev and the Minister of Internal Affairs Pulat Bobojonov, affected the outcome of the investigation. But when it was discovered that the real thief was a member of her corrupt family, Narbayeva attempted to portray her daughter Nilufarkhon Kamalova as just an “ordinary housewife” to avoid public scrutiny. In the official case files of the Mirzo-Ulugbek District Coordination Department of Internal Affairs, Case No. 262691/2022-1187VN lists the “victim” as a “housewife.”

Nilufarkhon Kamalova, who is married for the fourth time and is the second wife of a Russian citizen from the North Caucasus, began her career in 2003 as a project manager for various UN programs in Uzbekistan (UNDP Uzbekistan). She worked with UNDP in Uzbekistan until 2012, earning between $2,000 and $5,000, which was paid in cash without taxes.

Since 2013, Nilufarkhon has been employed as a project manager at “SOS Children’s Villages of Uzbekistan” with a monthly salary of $5,000. Additionally, this “hardworking housewife” serves as the national coordinator for social protection projects with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Uzbekistan, earning at least $3,000 per month.

On March 1, 2022, the ILO issued a statement claiming that Uzbek cotton was free from systemic child and forced labor. This result was achieved by the Uzbek authorities through the manipulation of official data. In reality, forced labor, including child labor, continues in Uzbekistan, not only in cotton harvesting but also in other agricultural sectors.

Conclusion

Tanzila Narbayeva, much like Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, maintains personal contacts with Russian officials, adheres to a pro-Kremlin stance, and is an ideological supporter of Putin’s project the “USSR 2.0.”

On October 28, 2022, in Samarkand, during the 54th session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS, Tanzila Narbayeva was awarded the “Order of Friendship” by her Russian counterpart, Valentina Matviyenko.

Narbayeva expressed her gratitude for receiving this prestigious Russian state award, noting that the “Order of Friendship” belonged to all her parliamentary colleagues in Uzbekistan. “We will certainly earn this order,” promised the deceitful Chairperson of the Senate, Tanzila Narbayeva.