Judge gives the Uzbek President's daughter one last chance
The State-Ledger
November 1The daughter of Uzbekistan's president will have one last opportunity to arrange for communica tion between her children and their father before she faces fines and an arrest warrant.
Superior Court Judge Deanne Wilson sitting in Morristown yesterday ordered video conferencing, e-mail and telephone contact must occur between Mansur Maqsudi and his son by Nov. 11, or she will issue a warrant for Gulnara Karimova's arrest and impose fines of $500 per day.
On Sept. 12, Wilson ordered Karimova, daughter of President Islam Karimov, to return children Islam and Iman to the United States within 30 days, ruling that New Jersey has jurisdiction in the custody dispute between her and Maqsudi.
Karimova, who is living with the children in Uzbekistan, has not complied with that ruling, claiming her native country has jurisdiction because the family spent most of the past few years there. She claims to have obtained a divorce decree there giving her custody, but Wilson ruled it was invalid, since Maqsudi was never properly notified of the proceedings.
Wilson also ordered Karimova to arrange phone contact between the children and Maqsudi. Maqsudi's attorney, Edward O'Donnell, said his client and Islam had spoken in early October, but the conversation ended when the 9-year-old boy indicated he did not want to speak to his father any longer.
Karimova's attorney, Paul Rowe, said he was committed to facilitating the contact, but the problem was the boy did not want to talk to his father.
Lisa Santapietro, a court-appointed advocate for the children, will make arrangements to provide Karimova with video-conferencing equipment in Uzbekistan. A court- appointed psychologist will speak to Islam next week, after which Maqsudi could have a video conference with his son.
Wilson also expressed concern that a language barrier had sprung up between Maqsudi and his 4-year-old daughter Iman, who speaks no English, and that the girl's mother had allowed that to happen.
Maqsudi, 35, has not seen his children since July 2001, when Kari mova took them from the couple's Mendham Township home. That was the day after he told Karimova he wanted a divorce.
Rowe also told the court yesterday that the appellate court had denied his appeal of Wilson's ruling that New Jersey was the appropriate jurisdiction for the case. Rowe said he would appeal to the state Supreme Court.