World Bulletin, 4 February 2014

Uighur academic and activist Ilham Tohti, who was arrested January 15, is still missing after being seized from his home in Beijing. US-based Free Asian Radio aired a tape recording belonging to Tohti that was recorded before he was arrested.

In the recording, Tohti said;

“The situation is serious, police have been monitoring my apartment building for a few days. Chinese intelligence haven’t been leaving me alone, not even for a minute. My friends around me have been seized in the past few days. I fear that they have bad intentions. I want to say somethings before I fall on evil days.

1) I have no illness. I did a check-up two months ago in Beijing. If somebody says that I committed suicide, It is not true. I am Uighur and a father. Uighurs do not choose suicide.

2) I do not want any lawmaker who is designated by state authorities.
3) If any tape recording is revealed when I was in detention, it does not belong me. Because, I can face torture and cruel treatment during the detention.

4) I have worked as an academician and a writer until today. I did not constitue any illegal organization. The people who support me increased after my efforts. I wanted justice and equality. But the situation is horrible now. Someone seeks way to kill me….

Uyghur Muslims, who are mostly settled in the China’s East Turkistan province (Xinjiang), often complain of employment discrimination, religious restrictions and poor treatment as minority group among the majority Han Chinese people.

Local advocacy group Amnesty International released an “urgent action” alert, calling for pressure on Chinese authorities to release detained scholar Ilham Tohti.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/world/128148/tape-recording-of-missing-uyghur-academic-aired