A Kyrgyz man convicted of attempting to kill a prominent theologian has had his sentence reduced from life imprisonment to 20 years in prison.
Kyrgyz Supreme Court spokeswoman Ainura Toktosheva told RFE/RL on September 14 that an appeals court changed the sentence on August 29 because the maximum punishment for attempted murder is 20 years in prison.
On June 9, Bishkek's Birinchi Mai District Court found Alibek Tilek-Uulu guilty of attempted murder and sentenced him to life in prison.
Kadyr Malikov, the director of the Religion, Law, and Politics analytical center in Bishkek, survived the stabbing attack near his house on November 26.
Tilek-Uulu and another suspected attacker, Ryskul Beishenaliev, were detained in Turkey, from where they reportedly planned to go to Syria to join Islamic State militants.