BISHKEK -- A Kyrgyz court August 29 reduced the sentence of Alibek Tilek-Uulu from life in prison to 20 years, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported September 14, quoting Supreme Court spokeswoman Ainura Toktosheva.
Tilek-Uulu was one of two men who stabbed Bishkek theologian Kadyr Malikov outside his house November 26. Malikov survived.
An appeals court reduced Tilek-Uulu's life sentence, which a lower court imposed June 9 since the maximum sentence for attempted homicide is 20 years, Toktosheva said.
Tilek-Uulu fled afterward to Turkey, which extradited him to Kyrgyzstan in March. Another suspected assailant, Yryskul Beishenaliyev, is still in Turkey and fighting extradition, 24.kg reported September 14. Tilek-Uulu and Beishenaliyev were planning to go to Syria when Turkish police nabbed them in late 2015, Kyrgyz authorities say, according to RFE/RL.
