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Yusufjan and Memetjan

Yusufjan and Memetjan

Sentence: Detained in May 2009 for “holding an illegal gathering”; their current whereabouts are not known.

According to the China Aid Association, Yusufjan and Memetjan, Uyghur students at Xinjiang University, were detained on 10 May 2009 in Urumqi along with five other students as the students held a meeting on campus to discuss religious issues. Two police officers from the local Domestic Security Protection Squad, and more than 10 other individuals in plainclothes, suddenly broke into the meeting site and arrested all of the students. The Domestic Security Protection Squad officers did not present identification or legal documents authorizing the arrest. Authorities handcuffed the students and escorted them to an office.

After interrogating the students, officials sent them to a detention center where each received 15 days of detention and a 5,000 Yuan fine for “holding an illegal gathering.” All of the students were released after fifteen days except Yusufjan (Yuesefujiang) and Memetjan (Maimaitijiang) and authorities have threatened them with more severe punishment.

Yusufjan is a 27-year-old graduate student in the Department of Economic Management at Xinjiang University, and Memetjan is a 24-year-old junior at the same university.

Further details about the case, including the men’s current whereabouts, are not known.

Sources:

Amnesty International (AI), Urgent Action: Drohende Folter und Misshandlung, ASA 17/028/2009, 18 July 2009, http://www.amnesty.de/urgent-action/ua-158-2009/drohende-folter-und-misshandlung

China Aid Association, Seven Muslim University Students Detained by Police; Two Still in Custody, 12 June 2009, available at:  http://www.chinaaid.org/2009/06/seven-muslim-university-students.html

U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Entry for “Yusufjan” in Political Prisoner Database (CECC Record Number: 2009-00334), available at: http://ppd.cecc.gov/QueryResultsDetail.aspx?PrisonerNum=7528

U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Entry for “Memetjan” in Political Prisoner Database (CECC Record Number: 2009-00347), available at: http://ppd.cecc.gov/QueryResultsDetail.aspx?PrisonerNum=7542

U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Annual Report 2009, www.cecc.gov/pages/annualRpt/annualRpt09/CECCannRpt2009.pdf, p. 143

[Last updated: October 2019]