The Prosecutor General of Sweden

Mr.Anders Perklev
Östermalmsgsatan 87c
Box 5553
S- 114 85 Stockholm Sweden

Dear Mr.Anders Perklev,

Investigation of the Swedish Prosecutors Office of telecommunications company TeliaSonera, accusing its leadership of giving bribes in huge amounts to Uzbek citizens, who are close to Uzbek president’s family, has caused a major stir not only in Scandinavia, but also throughout the Eurasian continent. Despite the fact that the management of TeliaSonera refutes the allegations made ​​against the company, the facts presented by journalists and the recent events in Uzbekistan only confirm conspiracy between the Uzbek dictatorship and TeliaSonera, one of the leaders in mobile market of Uzbekistan.

As you know, for patronage from Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek president Islam Karimov, TeliaSonera paid her for the removal of competing companies in Uzbekistan’s market. The telecommunications company also “sponsored” projects carried out by the Fund “Forum of Culture and Art of Uzbekistan”, a non-governmental charity organization that is run by Gulnara Karimova.

During October 22-27, Tashkent hosts annually held “Art Week Style.uz- 2013”, which includes the Tashkent International Biennale of Contemporary Art, the International Theatre Festival “Theatre.Uz”, and Tashkent International Film Festival “Golden Cheetah”. For the past seven years, Fund Forum, under the guidance of Gulnara Karimova, has been organizing the “Art Week Style.uz” with the help of the commercial entities operating in Uzbekistan.

As in the previous years, the mobile operator “Ucell”, a subsidiary of TeliaSonera in Uzbekistan, traditionally sponsors the event in the status of the “general sponsor”. The opening ceremony of the “Art Week Style.uz- 2013” was held on October 22 in one of the luxurious concert halls in Tashkent, and it included a concert of outstanding musicians of our time, violist Yuri Bashmet. The general sponsor of the concert of the world star was the company “Ucell”. However, none of the media resources of the organizers of the event mentions any information about the sponsors of the concert. Even official websites of the project and the Fund Forum (www.style.uz, www.fondforum.uz) contain no information about the sponsors. This leads us to conclude that funds received by Gulnara Karimova from mobile communication operator “Ucell” do not have legal grounds.

International Human Rights Association “Fiery Hearts Club” in its address to the artists coming to the “Art Week Style.uz- 2013” proposed to boycott the concerts in Tashkent, since the current Uzbekistan is a space of lawlessness and injustice, where violence, torture and violations of human rights occur with systematic regularity. (Read more here : http://jarayon.com/en/index.php/politics/item/165-bribing-in-the-form-of-charity). However, Yuri Bashmet is already in Tashkent and his concert withing “Art Week Style.uz- 2013” program was already held.

Approach of Sweden’s authorities against corruption is explicit and the country ranks high in international rankings of fight against corruption. The government and law enforcement agencies of the country talk a lot about their great commitment in fighting against corruption in all its forms. However, developments in recent years around TeliaSonera force us to question this statement.

Businesses such as TeliaSonera, running one of the largest telecommunication companies in Uzbekistan, use the element of corruption in the country for its own advantage. Management of TeliaSonera, well informed of the dictatorial regime in Uzbekistan and of the lack of freedom of Uzbek subscribers to conduct fair trials, has been increasing the prices for the services of “Ucell” without proportionately increasing their quality.

Dear Mr.Anders Perklev,

Given the corruption component in the actions of “Ucell”, International Human Rights Association “Fiery Hearts Club” asks you to include the episode of mobile operator “Ucell” sponsoring Gulnara Karimova’s project “Art Week Style.uz- 2013” into the case of investigation of bribery and money laundering, which is being held by the Swedish prosecutor.

Mutabar Tadjibayeva,

Head of the International Human Rights Association

“Fiery Hearts Club”

Paris, France