By Exec Edge Editorial Staff
Nearly one month after an assassination attempt on Komil Allamjonov, former press secretary to the president of Uzbekistan, a key suspect in the attack continues to elude law enforcement authorities in South Korea, where he fled after the failed hit, and authorities in neither country have provided details of the investigation.
In Uzbekistan, where a multi-jurisdictional investigation has led to the arrest of four individuals related to the attack, officials have yet to make statement or provide a motive. Local media have been gagged from reporting anything other than what is released through government channels. During his time as presidential press secretary, Allamjonov championed press freedoms and unblocked foreign mediaâs access to Uzbekistan.
Outside observers of Uzbekistan say the attack is emblematic of the ongoing struggle between reform-minded, Western-facing individuals, such as Allamjonov, and entrenched, Soviet-era opponents in the government who oppose such reforms. Some have written that the attack on Allamjonov was meant to send a message to those who share his reformist views.
This, combined with lack of information from Uzbek authorities and the key suspectâs apparent elusiveness in South Korea, has raised concerns that the investigation may not proceed in a transparent and credible fashion.
Most of the figures involved in the incident have some connection to the current and former governments of Uzbekistan, and many are connected to each other.
For his part, Allamjonov, 40, has been under heavily-armed, around-the-clock state security since the attack. He left his government post in September, and did not have security at the time of the Oct. 26 attack, when gunmen fired on Allamjonov and his driver near his home in Tashkent, the nationâs capital. Neither was injured.
During his time in the government, Allamjonov worked closely with Saida Mirziyoyev, daughter of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and No. 2 in his government. Allamjonov and Saida Mirziyoyev were leaders of the governmentâs reform movement, designed to expand democratic rights in the country, and they were often the face of the government to visiting foreign dignitaries.
Saida Mirziyoyevâs younger sister, Shahnoza, is married to Otabek Umarov, head of presidential security services. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that the relationship between Allamjonov and Umarov had become âpoisonous,â though none besides the current suspects have been connected to the attack.
An already complicated case has taken strange twists since the assassination attempt.
Following the attack, the two alleged gunmen fled the scene on electric scooters. Then they traveled by car to Ferghana, a city about 200 miles east of Tashkent, near Uzbekistanâs border with Kyrgyzstan. There they briefly took refuge in a club called Seoul, owned by daughters of the late Vitaly Fen, Uzbekistanâs ambassador to South Korea from 1995-2013, who was once known as the dean of the Korean diplomatic corps. The pair of alleged gunmen were apprehended, along with two other individuals, shortly thereafter.
The key suspect still at large has been identified as Javlon Yunusov, 36, who has been charged with attempted murder. Interpol issued a Red Notice for Yunusov on behalf of Uzbekistan. A Red Notice is not an arrest warrant, but it allows a country to detain an individual pending surrender or extradition.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Yunusov is the common-law husband of Natalia Fen, daughter of the late Uzbek ambassador to South Korea and co-owner of the Seoul nightclub where the two other suspects took refuge. Yunusov took a direct flight to Seoul in the hours after the attack.
Uzbeki authorities traveled to Seoul to apprehend Yunusov, having been told by South Korean law enforcement that he had been detained. However, that turned out not to be the case and it is unclear if Yunusov is still in South Korea, or has now fled that country.
Neither South Korean nor Uzbek authorities have updated the investigation.
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