 Professional Background
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 retroactively won Uzbekistan's Cholpan Prize.
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.
|
|
 |
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
