BISHKEK -- Kazakhstan has extradited to Kyrgyzstan former Kyrgyz lawmaker Damirbek Asylbek-Uulu, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Almaty on smuggling charges.
Kyrgyz State Penitentiary Service officials told RFE/RL on November 19 that Asylbek-Uulu had been extradited a day earlier to serve his term in his homeland and is currently in Bishkek's central detention center.
Asylbek-Uulu was sentenced in Kazakhstan in April after a court in Almaty found him guilty of planning the illegal smuggling of goods and of participating in the operations of an organized criminal group.
The other 11 defendants in the case, including two Kyrgyz nationals and 9 Kazakhs, were sentenced to prison terms of between three and 14 years.
Former Kyrgyz Lawmaker Sentenced In Kazakhstan For Smuggling Extradited To Homeland
Former Kyrgyz deputy Damirbek Asylbek-Uulu