{"id":6193,"date":"2015-11-20T01:30:39","date_gmt":"2015-11-20T06:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=6193"},"modified":"2016-02-09T08:53:51","modified_gmt":"2016-02-09T13:53:51","slug":"china-one-year-after-court-upholds-life-sentence-uyghur-pen-member-ilham-tohti-must-be-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/china-one-year-after-court-upholds-life-sentence-uyghur-pen-member-ilham-tohti-must-be-released","title":{"rendered":"China: One year after court upholds life sentence, Uyghur PEN member Ilham Tohti must be released"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ilham685\"<\/a><\/span>Tohti, PEN International is renewing its call on the Chinese authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is an outrageous travesty of justice that Ilham Tohti is still languishing behind bars. He dedicated himself to peacefully creating dialogue between different ethnic communities. Tohti is a prisoner of conscience and must be released immediately and unconditionally.\u2019 <\/em>\u2013 Jennifer Clement, PEN International president. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Tohti, a member of the Uyghur minority in China, who has been a target of frequent harassment by Chinese authorities for his outspoken views on Uyghur rights, was arrested in January 2014. He was reportedly held in shackles for 20 days and deprived of food for at least 10 days at the start of his detention, and was formally charged with \u2018splittism\u2019 on 20 February 2013 amid a crackdown on Chinese Uyghurs critical of the government. Convicted in September 2014, after an unfair trial in which he was denied adequate legal representation, Tohti\u2019s appeal against his conviction and sentence was rejected on 21 November 2015.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ilham Tohti was arrested,\u00a0shackled and\u00a0imprisoned without a fair trial purely\u00a0be<\/em>cause he called\u00a0for justice for the Uyghur minority.\u00a0\u00a0To silence such a passionate advocate for\u00a0peace and cross-cultural understanding\u00a0at a time when that is\u00a0exactly what is needed in China\u2019s\u00a0Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, is not just repugnant, but absurdly\u00a0short-sighted too<\/em>.\u2019 \u2013 Margaret Atwood, <\/strong>member of the PEN International Writers Circle. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018<\/strong>The fate of our colleague Ilham Tohti fills many people with sadness and disgust. Sadness, because in this way such an outstanding and peaceful voice is silenced. Disgust, because Ilham Tohti did nothing punishable. He builds bridges instead of destroying them, in service of his country. So I ask, with many others: release him, immediately and unconditionally!\u2019<\/em> \u2013 Geert Mak, <\/strong>member of the PEN International Writers Circle. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018<\/em>To imprison a writer such as Ilham Tohti is to imprison freedom itself. Everyone loses. Tohti, of course, because he lives in confinement, but also those who put him there, who live in fear of what he has to say. Both the Uyghur and the Chinese would do better if Tohti was freed and the grievances of the Uyghur were addressed. Let\u2019s start by freeing Ilham Tohti.\u2019<\/em>\u2013 Yann Martel, <\/strong>member of the PEN International Writers Circle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Almost every feature of the charging, sentencing and imprisonment of scholar and writer Ilham Tohti is an abuse of human rights. Not only is he sentenced, shockingly, to life imprisonment for his peaceful efforts to achieve a proper status for his people, the Uighurs. This sentence, which includes confiscation of his family\u2019s possessions, also sentences his wife and sons \u2013 not charged with any crime \u2013 to a life of indigence and dependence. The situation of Ilham Tohti belongs to the Dark Ages of human history. The Republic of China must be urged to rethink this shocking response and release Ilham Tohti.\u2019<\/em> \u2013 Judith <\/strong>Rodriguez, member of the PEN International Writers Circle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Release Ilham Tohti Immediately and Unconditionally<\/h1>\n

This petition is to demand that the Chinese government release Ilham Tohti immediately and unconditionally. Please complete and send the petition below to add your voice. You may edit the petition if desired before sending<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

See more at<\/span> http:\/\/www.pen-international.org\/newsitems\/china-one-year-after-court-upholds-life-sentence-uyghur-pen-member-ilham-tohti-must-be-released\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tohti, PEN International is renewing its … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,43,33],"tags":[122,352,1419],"views":5403,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6193"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6193"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6202,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6193\/revisions\/6202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}