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Images have appeared of Gulnara Karimova – the “first daughter” of Uzbekistan who faces a court trial on corruption charges – being manhandled by security guards in camouflage, apparently while under house arrest in Tashkent, reports the Guardian.

Gulnara Karimova appears to be held under guard in images circulated on September 15 by Locksley Ryan,
who claims to be her spokesperson Photograph: Davidson Ryan Dore

Karimova was once seen as a potential successor to her ageing father, the dictator Islam Karimov, but has suffered a spectacular fall from grace in recent months.

The images were circulated by Locksley Ryan, who claims to be a spokesman for Karimova and said the photos showed “persecution, starvation and abuse”. It is unclear exactly when the photographs were taken. There are no obvious signs of serious violence visible in the photographs, but Karimova looks tired and dishevelled as she is grabbed by the arm by guards – a far cry from a woman who once presented herself as a glamorous Central Asian princess, recording pop songs and releasing a jewellery line.

“Gulnara Karimova is being held for purely political reasons,” claimed the statement released by Ryan. “As long as Gulnara has been under house arrest she and her daughter – who is being held with her – have remained in urgent need of medical attention. To add to this, those keeping her and her daughter prisoner have decided to inflict a programme of systematic starvation, preventing any food from reaching them.”

Karimova has been under unofficial house arrest in Uzbekistan since March. In July, her son Islam Karimov Jr, who studies in Britain, told the Guardian he feared for his mother’s life and put her disappearance down to a vicious feud.

Karimov Jr told the Guardian that he had not seen his grandfather, the president, since the beginning of the year, and recalled armed men turning him and his mother away from the presidential residences. He claimed that other forces inside the government were trying to keep his mother away from her father, and cast doubt on just how much his grandfather knew about Gulnara’s plight.

Last week, the Uzbek general prosecutor announced that Karimova and associates would be charged with mafia-style corruption. She is also under investigation in a Swiss corruption probe.

Karimova’s attempts to portray herself as a victim have been met with scepticism in many quarters, given that for years she was seen as the embodiment of her father’s brutal rule.

Presidential elections are due next year in Uzbekistan, and there is no obvious successor to the 76-year-old Karimov, prompting speculation of a behind-the-scenes power struggle.

Reporting: The Guardian