By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun, Betul Yuruk and Tutku Senen
ANKARA
An Uighur academic and critic of Chinese government policy towards Muslim Uighurs faces life imprisonment for "inciting separatism" when he goes on trial on Wednesday.
Ilham Tohti, 45, a prominent economics lecturer at a Beijing university, was arrested in January accused of promoting the separation of Xinjang - China's most westerly province - from China.
Xinjiang is home to a number of ethnic groups including the Uyghur, a Turkic-speaking minority who make up 45 percent of the population.
The case has sparked international calls for his release and condemnation from the U.S., the EU and Turkey.
Tohti, who has been one of the Chinese government's most outspoken critics over its policy towards Muslim Uighurs and could even face the death penalty.
Speaking to the Anadolu Agency, World Uighur Congress Chairman Seyit Tumturk said Tohti's case is a "typical example" of China's human rights violations over East Turkestan, also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region of China.
Tumturk said that Tohti was arrested in January by the Chinese government with his mother and although the professor's mother was released later, his whereabouts remained unknown for quite a while.
Tumturk said China is trying to legitimize the killing of people in East Turkistan by calling them terrorists.
"Tohti only fought for the people in East Turkestan to have equal rights with the rest of China," he added.
"Tohti's outspoken remarks about the situation in East Turkestan is the reason he is in court," he said. "But we know that a decision against Tohti has already been taken and will be declared to Tohti's face in court."
Tumturk also questioned that nowhere in the world can an academic or a scientist face charges of betraying the country with their articles.
"This is the sign that the Chinese communist government is willing to assimilate and even shatter East Turkestan."
Although Tohti will be put in trial with the charges of "inciting separatism", Tumturk said the academic never said a word against China's territorial integrity.
Tohti's case underscores the government's crackdown on dissent in East Turkestan, which has been plagued by a series of attacks in public places. East Turkestan is the traditional home of the Uighur ethnic minority group.
- Broad international reaction towards Tohti's detention
On Monday, Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization based in New York, called Tohti's trial a "travesty of justice".
Tohti’s trial on charges of “separatism” will be on Wednesday and closed to press, at Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
Amnesty International also released a statement on Wednesday, calling on the on the authorities to release Tohti "immediately and unconditionally", as he is "a prisoner of conscience detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression."
The organization said these kinds of charges often used against Uighurs who denounce human rights violations.
Earlier in the year, UN Watch, a non-governmental organization based in Geneva, also called for Tohti's immediate and unconditional release.
"By serving at the UN Human Rights Council, China has committed to “uphold the highest standards of human rights.” Regrettably, its actions show little respect to its international obligations, the United Nations, human rights and the rule of law," the organization said.
lham Tohti was honoured with the 2014 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award by PEN American Center on May, 2014.
"PEN hopes that this spotlight will serve as a catalyst for a global effort to release Tohti, who was long harassed by Chinese authorities for his outspoken views on the rights of China’s Muslim Uyghur minority," the organization said.
Several Turkish NGO's such as Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) and Mazlum-Der also supports the release of Uighur academic.
- "An issue that has to be embraced by the world"
When asked about the United States' call for the release of the academician, East Turkestan Culture and Solidarity Association's Ankara Head Hayrullah Efendigil said the situation has to be considered as "an issue that has to be embraced by the world".
Chinese Foreign Ministry was not happy about US statement over the Uighur academic, called the western world to "stop interfering it's domestic issues."
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