Campaign for the release of Alimjan Yimit, a Chinese Uyghur Christian

Thank you for praying and campaigning on behalf of Uyghur church leaders Osman Imin and Alimjan Yimit.

Osman Imin has now been released, but Alimjan Yimit remains in detention.

Alimjan appealed against his 15-year prison sentence but on 16 March his appeal was denied. He was recently moved from a prison in Kashgar to one in the provincial capital Urumqi. Family members were allowed their first visit since his arrest.

Name: Alimjan Yimit (male)
Chinese name as it appears in official documents: Alimujiang Yimiti
Identification card number: 650104197306104712

Alimjan Yimit

Alimjan, a Uyghur house church leader, is held in arbitrary detention according to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Alimjan is married to Gulnur and they have two young children. They are Uyghurs, living in Xinjiang, the Uyghur Autonomous Region in the north-west corner of China. Alimjan is a Christian from a Muslim background.

Alimjan was recently sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for allegedly 'providing state secrets to overseas organisations'. An appeal was lodged shortly after he was sentenced on 27 October 2009.  Although his appeal was rejected in March, Alimjan's lawyer, Li Baiguang told Radio Free Asia, "This decision is illegal and void because it never succeeded in showing how Alimjan supplied state secrets to people overseas."

Alimjan's family, who had not been allowed to see him since his arrest in January 2008, were permitted a brief visit to see him in Xinjiang No. 3 prison on 20 April 2010.  They were only allowed to speak to him via telephone through a glass barrier. Alimjan is noticeably thinner but in good spirits according to his family. Officials have now granted Gulnur, Alimjan's wife, and other close family members permission to visit him once a month.  Worryingly, despite gaining permission to meet with him from the Xinjiang Bureau of Prison Management, Alimjan's lawyers were prevented from seeing him, China Aid Association (CAA) reported on 24 April.

Chronology of events

1. During Alimjan's employment with two foreign-owned companies, officials from the State Security Bureau called him in for interrogations regularly. He also had his house searched several times and his personal computer was seized. SSB officers have also physically abused Alimjan. His complaints to the bureau's headquarters in Urumqi remain unanswered.
2. On 13 September 2007, the authorities closed down Alimjan's business, the Xinjiang Jiaerhao Foodstuff Company Ltd, accusing him of using it as a cover for "preaching Christianity among people of Uyghur ethnicity".
3. On 12 January 2008, Alimjan was arrested on an alleged 'national security' issue.
4. Alimjan was held at Kashgar Detention Centre.
5. Friends said they believe the true reason for his arrest was his faith. Officials threatened a sentence ranging from six years in prison up to execution. Conditions in detention are very harsh, affecting Alimjan's health and wellbeing. However sources said that he was much respected in the Detention Centre.
6. On 20 February 2009, charges against Alimjan were changed to inciting secessionist sentiment to split the country', and collecting and selling intelligence for overseas organizations'. However, being an agricultural worker, it is ludicrous to suggest that Alimjan would have had access to classified information.
7. On 12 September 2008, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its Opinion 29/2008, ruled the arrest and detention of Alimjan to be arbitrary and in violation of international law. Reportedly, the Working Group also concluded that Alimjan was detained on account of his faith and asked the Chinese government to remedy the situation.
8. Initially, a verdict was expected by the end of April 2008, but his trial was rescheduled for May 2008.
9. During the hearing on 27 May 2008, the Xinjiang Court returned the case to state prosecutors citing insufficient evidence'.
10. After further research, Public Security Bureau officials returned the case in September 2008 to State prosecutors who returned it to the court the next month.
11. Alimjan was tried secretly at Kashi District Intermediate People's Court in Xinjiang on 28 July 2009 for "collecting and selling intelligence for overseas organisations". A year and a half in to his detention, this was his first hearing and as such breached China's Criminal Procedure Law.
12. Alimjan was read the verdict of the Xinjiang Court while in prison on 27 October 2009, according to CAA. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Mr. Li Dunyong, one of Alimjan's lawyers, subsequently lodged an appeal.
    Dunyong was among the lawyers who did not get the annual renewal of his bar registration in May 2009. Another lawyer who defended Alimjan also lost his licence when Chinese authorities turned down his annual application for renewal.
13. Dunyong said that "The key for this case was the flawed Certificate for the Evidence, verified by the Bureau of Conservative Secrets. In both form and content, the certificate was questionable. It even had no signature by the verifier at the Bureau, which violates Chinese law."  Dunyong confirmed that "Religion lies at the heart of this case."
14. On 16 March 2010 the People's High Court upheld the original verdict.  His lawyers, Li Baiguang and Liu Peifu, now plan to appeal to the Beijing Supreme Court, according to CAA.

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

The situation here is tense. The Chinese government is trying to influence the Uyghur culture in the province by stimulating the migration of Han Chinese (general Chinese citizens) by providing them with better jobs. Han Chinese accuse the Uyghur people, who are predominantly Muslim, of religious extremism and separatism.

Muslims who convert to Christianity are in an even more difficult position as a national minority, as converts leaving Islam and as Christians who face the wrath of their Muslim community and the Chinese government. They are forbidden to attend church services at the only government-approved Three Self Church in Xinjiang, and are therefore forced into meeting in unregistered house churches.

Sources:
Open Doors International
Compass Direct News
China Aid Association (CAA)

Please pray:

1. for Alimjan and his family in this very difficult situation
2. for justice to be done and freedom for Alimjan so that he can be reunited with his family
3. that God will strengthen him as he faces harsh prison conditions daily
4. for Alimjan's wife, Gulnur, who is being monitored by the state security, and for her two children.

You can also send a letter to Alimjan's family to encourage them at this difficult time, using our online Letter-writing Guide »