Uzbek President Islam Karimov was sworn in for a third term Wednesday, Uzbek media reported, after an election declared undemocratic by Western observers.

Karimov won 88 percent of ballots cast in the Dec. 23 vote, in which he faced three candidates who publicly supported his re-election.

Four independent candidates affiliated with a political group whose leader has been jailed for alleged financial violations were barred from the race.

Karimov, in power since before the 1991 Soviet breakup, ran for a third term despite a constitutional two-term limit in the Central Asian nation.

While Karimov has been a close ally of the U.S. in the War on Terror, he without a doubt runs one of the most repressive and brutal regimes on earth.