China sends school principal to jail for 18yrs for organising seminar with Uyghur scholars

China has sentenced an Uyghur educator and hemaster of a high school in Korla of Xinjiang region of northwest China for inviting two Uyghur intellectuals to give lectures and presentations. principal of high school has been sentenced to 18 years in jail. According to Rio Free Asia (RFA), Sherep Heyit h arranged and conducted a series of cultural activities in which he invited well-known Uyghur thinkers Yalqun Rozi as well as Abduqir Jalalidin to give speeches. 

Furr, since 2017, when Chinese authorities began arresting Uyghurs and or Turkic-speaking Muslims in a large network of "re-education" centres in Xinjiang, supposedly to deter religious extremism and terrorism, those two scholars have been in prison. According to RFA, around 1.8 million individuals are estimated to have been detained in camps.  

Abdureshid Niyaz, an independent Uyghur scholar living in Turkey informed RFA in a report from 2021 that Chinese authorities have attacked educators, teachers as well as intellectuals in Xinjiang as y are "brains of Uyghur society" and most important method of carrying on Uyghur culture and identity. 

Former student of Sherep talks about his detention

Husenjan, a former student of Sherep’s who now lives in exile, claims that he was imprisoned by Chinese officials in Korla four years ago, but his punishment was unclear. Husenjan said, “I learned his sentence term of 18 years through a Chinese friend in inner China. I was very sdened by this tragic news, but I was not surprised at all because it has been three or four years since he disappeared.” He ded that Sherep was an elite. 

According to RFA, Husenjan, who was previously aware of Sherep's detention, stated principal was condemned because of his ties to two Uyghur intellectuals who presented lectures.  

Furrmore, RFA spoke with a Chinese law enforcement officer in Korla who stated he was informed of Sherep's arrest and imprisonment and knew officer involved. He also verified that Sherep has been serving an 18-year term, however, he h no idea where or what happened to principal's members of family. 

Sherep was fluent in both Chinese and English

Korla is capital of Bayin'gholin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, China's biggest prefecture, and also second-largest city in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Area, RFA reported. Husenjan ded that Sherep h gruated from a Chinese institution outside of Xinjiang and was fluent in both Chinese and English in dition to his native tongue. Sherep was among first Uyghur elites to be taken by police as Chinese government ramped up its crackdown on Uyghurs in 2017, he claimed. 

As per anor former pupil who now resides in Japan, Sherep swiftly came to prominence in Uyghur society in Korla and throughout Xinjiang as a result of his conscientious work ethic and educational background. 

(Image: AP)