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Mamadali Mahmudov is a renowned writer and opposition activist. His first major work, entitled Immortal Cliffs and published in 1981, relates the hero's dream of uniting the Turkic peoples and fighting the invading Russians of the late nineteenth century. Initially, the story was believed to follow the Soviet criteria for "socialist realism." Beneath the literal meaning of the work, however, Mahmudov very much rebelled against the censors, and helped lay the foundation for Uzbek national self-awareness in the late Soviet period; Soviet rulers belatedly realized this alternative reading of his story, and in the mid-1980s pressured Mahmudov to issue a retraction. Refusing to renounce the work, he responded with only a vague public statement. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Immortal Cliffs retrospectively won Uzbekistan's Cholpan Prize.
Case history:
Mahmudov supported Erk, a political party founded by fellow writer
Muhammad Salih, in the 1991 presidential elections. When Erk lost the
election to President Karimov, the party was officially banned, and its
proponents have been persecuted ever since. In 1994, Mahmudov was
arrested for embezzlement and abuse of office and sentenced to four
years' imprisonment, charges that were considered fabrications at the
time by PEN and Amnesty International. Following an international
campaign on his behalf, Mahmudov was released early in a presidential
amnesty.
On February 19, 1999, Mahmudov was one of several individuals arrested after a series of explosions in Tashkent earlier in the month. Agents of the Committee for National Security stopped him and his wife in their car, and after she was let out, drove off with him to an unknown destination. Mahmudov's wife and daughter heard nothing of him or his whereabouts until May, when he "reappeared" in prison. He and five others were brought to trial on the basis of their possession of banned copies of the Erk newspaper, which resulted in charges of "threats" to the president and constitutional order. They were also cited for participation in a "criminal society" and using the mass media to publicly insult the President of Uzbekistan. At the trial, Mahmudov testified to having been tortured under interrogation including beatings, electric shock and threat of rape of female family members. It is believed that the bombing was used as a pretext to arrest those associated with the Erk party and its exiled leader Salih, who was convicted in absentia for the bombings.
Current status:
In August 1999, Mahmudov was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment; the
other five arrested received sentences ranging from eight to 15 years in
jail. The detained individuals were forced to sign self-incriminating
statements, and some were coerced to declare their guilt on a government-
sponsored national television program. Mahmudov was transferred from Navoi
prison to the medical center at Tashkent prison around March 2001. He was
subsequently moved on to Chirchik prison where the conditions are said to
be less harsh than at Navoi.
Mamadali Mahmudov is also an Honorary Member of the Canadian, English,
Netherlands and USA West PEN Centers. He is a recipient of the 2001
PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards.
PEN considers Mamadali Mahmudov to be detained solely for exercising
his right to free expression as guaranteed by Articles
19 and 22 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release.