Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, sentenced to life imprisonment, celebrated his 57th birthday in prison

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On October 25, 2026, this publication learned that today, Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, celebrated his 57th birthday in prison.

Ilham Tohti was arrested on January 15, 2014. Ilham has consistently advocated understanding and dialogue among ethnic groups. He founded “Uyghur Online,” which focused on the rights of Uyghurs and advocated ethnic equality, mutual understanding, and peaceful dialogue. He once said he hoped to become “an envoy and a bridge promoting exchange and communication among ethnic groups.” For this, on September 23, 2014, the Chinese authorities sentenced him to life imprisonment for the crime of separatism. More than 12 years have passed since then. According to his daughter, his family has been unable to see him for nine years.

Biography of Ilham Tohti: Born on October 25, 1969, in Artux, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; formerly a Uyghur teacher at Minzu University of China, a Uyghur scholar, founder of the Uyghur-Chinese bilingual website “Uyghur Online,” and a political prisoner in China.

He founded the Uyghur Online website in 2006. During the “July 5” events in Urumqi, Xinjiang, in 2009, the authorities viewed the website as having engaged in activities that “vigorously incited and propagandized, and spread rumors.” On July 8, Ilham and his family were taken away by the Chinese authorities and placed under isolated house arrest at a location near Beijing. It was not until August 23 that he was released and allowed to return home, following a joint appeal signed by several hundred people, including the writer Wang Lixiong, entitled “Appeal Regarding the Detention of Uyghur Scholar Ilham Tohti.” In October 2013, following the Tiananmen bridge crash in Beijing, on November 2 he was subjected to a vehicle collision and intimidation by plainclothes state security police while driving out with his child and wife.

On January 15, 2014, he was again taken from his home by Beijing and Xinjiang police and criminally detained, and held at the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Public Security Department detention center. On February 20, 2014, the Urumqi People’s Procuratorate formally approved his arrest on suspicion of “separatism,” on the grounds that “Ilham Tohti colluded with the overseas ‘East Turkestan’ forces,” used the internet to advocate “Xinjiang independence,” used lectures to incite people to “overthrow the government,” and used his position as a teacher to engage in separatist activities. On September 23, 2014, the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Intermediate People’s Court ultimately sentenced him to life imprisonment for “separatism” and confiscated all his personal property. He appealed the ruling, but on November 21, 2014, the second-instance court again announced its decision: the appeal was rejected and the original judgment upheld. It is reported that when his relatives went to deliver money and clothing and other items, prison authorities refused them, saying that Ilham had not yet used up his money and that detainees did not need to be sent clothing. He is currently serving his sentence at Xinjiang Autonomous Region No. 1 Prison (No. 5 Siping Road, Xinshi District, Urumqi, postal code 830013).

This publication will continue to follow Ilham Tohti’s conditions in prison.