Free Malaysia Today, 25 July 2018

By V Anbalagan – Eleven Uighur Muslims charged with breaking Malaysian immigration laws will remain in prison as the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has yet to make a decision on their applications to drop charges.

Deputy public prosecutor Najwa Bistaman told magistrate Wong Chai Sia that the status of their representations to the AGC has not been made known.

Wong then fixed another case management on Aug 8 and tentatively fixed trial date for Sept 12.

“The trial will begin should their representations be rejected,” Najwa told reporters later.

Zakaria Arman, Salehudin Ali, Jaefar Amin, Osman Abbas, Alin Osman, Asen Ziyali, Taher Kasim, Ibrahim Rexiti, Nurudin Muhammad, Abdul Kader, and Yusuf Ahmed were charged on April 24 with entering Malaysia without a valid permit.

They claimed trial to the charge, and if convicted, could face a maximum fine of RM10,000 or five years in jail, or both.

The men, believed to be between 20 and 40 years old, have been in custody since they were first taken to court early this year.

Their lawyer Raimi Abd Rahim said their clients have been detained at the Sungai Buloh Prison since February, and hoped the AGC would expedite its decision.

“As far as we are concerned, the 11 are stateless persons and would like to reside in Turkey or in another third country,” he told FMT today.

They were part of a group who escaped a Thai prison by digging holes in the wall and using blankets to lower themselves down.

They then crossed the border into Malaysia where they were arrested by the authorities.

They were among 200 Uighurs arrested in Thailand four years ago.

Members of the group identified themselves as Turkish citizens and asked to be sent to Turkey, but more than 100 were forcibly returned to China in July 2015.

The move sparked international condemnation, including from rights groups which feared they could face torture in China.

The US government has also raised concerns on the possible deportation of the 11 men.

Beijing reportedly implemented stricter regulations on religion beginning this year, as part of efforts to put religious practices directly under the state.

In February, then deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Malaysia had received an official request from the Chinese government to extradite the 11 men to China.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/07/25/uighur-11-to-remain-in-malaysian-prison/