Ilham Tohti

Ilham Tohti is a Uyghur economist, writer, and professor who is a co-founder of the website Uyghur Online, also known as Uyghurbiz, which aimed to promote understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. In February 2014 Tohti was charged with separatism and held incommunicado under inhumane conditions for months before he could meet his lawyer. On 23 September 2014, he was found guilty of 'separatism,' and is currently serving a life sentence. He has been incarcerated incommunicado since 2017, with no access to his family or his lawyers.