Sunday, March 24, 2013

TASHKENT — Jailed Uzbek writer Mamadali Mahmudov is facing an extension of his prison term.

Mahmudov, 72, finished serving a 14-year prison sentence last month.

Instead of being released, Mahmudov was transferred from a labor camp to a detention center in Tashkent.

Mahmudov’s wife, Gulsara Mahmudova, told RFE/RL on March 20 that her husband was charged with violating penitentiary regulations and faced a new prison term of between three and five years.

Mahmudov authored many popular books and was once seen as a serious challenger to longtime President Islam Karimov.

He planned to run in Uzbekistan’s 1991 presidential election, but the Central Election Commission rejected Mahmudov’s candidacy.

He was sentenced to prison in 1999 after a Tashkent court found him guilty of involvement in an assassination attempt against Karimov.