MCLC: Uyghur linguist sentenced to 3 years

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: Uyghur linguist sentenced to 3 years
***********************************************************

Source: RFA (8/27/14):
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/language-08262014235118.html

Uyghur Linguist, Two Associates Sentenced After One Year Detention
 

AUG. 27, 2014 --  A U.S.-educated Uyghur linguist and two others who
wanted to set up schools to promote the ethnic minority language in
China’s troubled Xinjiang region have been sentenced to up to three years
on what their supporters see as trumped-up charges of “illegal
fundraising.”

In a case that has received international attention, the Tengritagh (in
Chinese, Tianshan) district court in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi imposed an
18-month jail term and a 80,000 yuan (U.S $13,000) fine on Abduweli Ayup
after detaining him for about a year, a relative of Ayup’s told RFA’s
Uyghur Service.

Ayup, who earned a Master’s Degree in Linguistics at the University of
Kansas, returned to his homeland in 2011 to pursue his dream of opening
Uyghur language schools but was arrested and thrown in jail with two of
his business partners – Dilyar Obul and Muhemmet Sidik – on Aug. 20, 2013.

Their firm was called Mother Tongue International Co.

Sidik, the company’s director, was sentenced to two years and three months
imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of 130,000 yuan (U.S. $21,130)
while Obul, a board member like Ayup, got two years imprisonment and was
fined 100,000 yuan (U.S. $16,260), the relative said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.

Family notified of court ruling

The court arrived at its decision on Aug. 21 after holding a one day-trial
on July 11, he said, adding that Ayup’s family has been notified about the
ruling.

“The ruling states that they committed a crime of abusing public money,”
he said, citing a copy of the court’s ruling. “There are no other charges
except that.”

He said that Ayup and Obul had accepted the verdict and do not wish to
lodge an appeal. Sidik’s decision however is not immediately known.

The jail sentences would be effective from the date of their detention,
according to the court ruling, he said.

“If the court ruling is truly enforced, Ayup may be released in six
months,” he said.

The trio are being held in Liudawan prison in Urumqi.

“It has not been stated when the ruling would be enforced and Ayup’s
parents have not been allowed to meet with him,” the relative said.

An active promoter of the Uyghur language in Xinjiang, where Beijing is
strongly pushing the use of Mandarin Chinese in schools, Ayup established
a Uyghur-language kindergarten in Kashgar, China’s westernmost city,
together with his business associates in the summer of 2012.

Authorities said they closed down the school in March 2013 because it was
operating “without complete documentation.” They refused the trio’s
permission to open another school in Urumqi.

Relatives of Ayup were not told of his whereabouts until recently, even
though they had pleaded to meet with him after learning that he was in
poor health in jail.

International petition

A group of supporters in the United States lately launched a petition on
MoveOn.org <http://MoveOn.org/> to publicize his case, receiving more than
500 backers from across the globe. They also set up a Facebook page
“Justice for Uyghur Linguist Abduweli Ayup” to highlight his plight.

The petition called on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to protect the
rights of ethnic minorities, among other requests.

The mostly Muslim Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic
discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and
joblessness.

The New York-based Committee of Concerned Scientists also wrote a note of
concern over Ayup’s plight to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Anwar Memet, a childhood friend and middle school classmate who now lives
in the U.S., told RFA in an earlier report that Ayup’s supervisor at the
University of Kansas had offered him a three-year scholarship if he agreed
to pursue his doctorate in linguistics following the completion of his
graduate degree.

“[B]ut he chose to return to his homeland to realize his dream ... of
opening Uyghur-language kindergartens and schools.”

He said that he and other friends had tried to persuade Ayup—whose wife
and daughter were also with him in the U.S. at the time—to stay to pursue
his studies, but he could not be swayed.

Reported by Eset Sulaiman for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan
Juma and Eset Sulaiman. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.