Ilham Tohti

Writer and academic currently serving a life sentence for his peaceful advocacy in support of Uyghur rights

A writer, academic and public intellectual, Ilham Tohti is currently serving a life sentence following a two-day unfair trial in September 2014. Thought to be held in solitary confinement, family members have not been allowed to visit him since 2017. Tohti’s imprisonment is emblematic of the Chinese government’s long-standing efforts to dislocate Uyghurs from their cultural identity and heritage through overwhelming levels of repression, resulting in the mass detention of writers, poets, academics and intellectuals.