Journalists Imprisoned in 2017 - Akbar Imin
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 31 December 2017 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Journalists Imprisoned in 2017 - Akbar Imin, 31 December 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a5c9461a.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Uighurbiz | Imprisoned in China | January 01, 2014
| Job: | Internet Reporter |
| Medium: | Internet |
| Beats Covered: | Culture, Human Rights, Politics |
| Gender: | Male |
| Local or Foreign: | Local |
| Freelance: | No |
| Charge: | Anti-state |
| Length of Sentence: | 5 years to <10 years |
| Reported Health Problems: | No |
Akbar Imin is one of seven students connected to the imprisoned Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, who were charged with being involved with Uighurbiz during a secret trial held in November 2014, according to Tohti's lawyer Li Fangping.
Tohti, a writer and blogger, was taken from his home by police on January 15, 2014, and the Uighurbiz website he founded, also known as UighurOnline, was closed. The site, which Tohti started in 2006, was published in Chinese and Uighur, and focused on social issues.
Tohti was charged with separatism by Urumqi police on February 20, 2014. He was accused of using his position as a lecturer at Minzu University of China to spread separatist ideas through Uighurbiz. On September 23, 2014, at the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court, Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment. He denied the charges.
Several foreign governments and human rights organizations protested the sentence. The European Union released a statement condemning the life sentence as unjustified. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. was concerned by the sentencing and called on Chinese authorities to release him, along with seven of his students.
Tohti's appeal request was rejected at a hearing in a Xinjiang detention center on November 21, 2014, that was scheduled at such short notice that his lawyer was unable to attend.
Tohti's wife told Radio Free Asia in February 2016 that authorities allow family members to visit Tohti for only 30 minutes every three months.
Akbar Imin was charged alongside the students Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat, Luo Yuwei, Mutellip Imin, Atikem Rozi, and Abduqeyum Ablimit with being involved with Uighurbiz during a secret trial held in November 2014, according to Tohti's lawyer Li Fangping. Many were administrators for the site, according to state media. According to the political prisoner database of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, an organization set up by the U.S. Congress to monitor human rights and laws in China, Rozi and Mutellip Imin wrote for the site. Mutellip Imin, who is from Xinjiang and enrolled at Istanbul University in Turkey, also has a blog. He was arrested when he tried to leave China.
According to The New York Times, three of the students made televised confessions on the state-run China Central Television in September, saying they worked for the site. Halmurat claimed to have written an article, Nijat claimed to have taken part in editorial policy decisions, and Luo, from the Yi minority, claimed to have done design work.
The seven students were sentenced to three to eight years in prison, according to the Global Times, a government-affiliated website. The length of sentence for each student was unclear and details of where they are being held were not disclosed.
CPJ could not determine the names or contact details of the lawyers representing the students. Tohti's lawyers Li and Liu Xiaoyuan told CPJ that they did not have information on the students' cases as of late 2017.
