2014年9月，#維吾爾族 學者 #伊力哈木.土赫提 被以「分裂國家罪」判處無期徒刑，剝奪政治權力終身，沒收所有財產。2017年起，當局禁止家人探望，現時家人不知道他關押在何處，健康和精神狀況如何。他的太太和兩名兒子現居北京，因害怕回到新疆會被關進再教育營，不敢冒險爭取探視權利。
In September 2014, #Uyghur scholar #IlhamTohti was convicted of “separatism” and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was also deprived of political rights for life and all his properties were confiscated. Since 2017, the authorities have prohibited his family members from visiting him in prison. At present, his family members do not know where he is being held, and how his health and mental state is. Ilham Tohti’s wife and their two sons live in Beijing. Fearing that they would be sent to re-education camps when they return to Xinjiang, they dare not to demand for visits.
姓名：伊力哈木‧土赫提 (Ilham Tohti)
出生日期：1969年10月25日
職業：中央民族大學國際結算專業的副教授、《維吾爾在線》網站創辦人和站長
被拘捕日期：2014年1月15日
被拘捕地點：從家中被公安帶走
被拘捕罪名：「分裂國家罪」
正式被捕日期：2014年2月20日
起訴日期：2014年7月30日
法律代表：李方平律師
審訊日期：2014年9月17日，在烏魯木齊市中級人民法院開審
審判日期：2014年9月23日一審宣判
判決結果：「分裂國家罪」罪名成立，判處無期徒刑，剝奪政治權利終身，沒收個人全部財產。伊力哈木提出上訴，2014年11月21日，二審宣佈維持原判
刑期：無期徒刑，剝奪政治權利終身，沒收個人全部財產
關押地點：新疆第一監獄，但目前情況不明。
案件簡介：
伊力哈木‧土赫提出生於新疆阿圖什，畢業於東北師範大學本科、中央民族大學經濟學院研究院，截至2014年為中央民族大學國際結算專業的副教授，主要研究新疆地區的收入差距及失業問題。
伊力哈木一直從事少數民族問題研究，屬溫和的維族學者。他在2006年創辦了維漢雙語網站《維吾爾在線》，從未發表謀求新疆獨立的言論和文章，但對中國政府現行的民族政策持批評態度，曾多次公開批評北京的新疆政策，挑戰當局對新疆發生的多起暴力事件的詮釋。
2009年7月5日，新疆發生了維漢暴力衝突，當局指「是在《維吾爾在線》煽動性的文章及伊力哈木·土赫提煽動言論的影響之下」發生，並將暴力事件歸咎於「恐怖主義分子」。但伊力哈木說，在新疆有和平的抵抗，也有暴力的抗爭，很多情況下同恐怖主義或分裂主義毫不相干。
他在《維吾爾在線》網站發表文章說，北京當局是在用「恐怖主義」綁架整個維吾爾民族。
伊力哈木還呼籲北京當局改善維吾爾族人的人權，希望中國政府尊重憲法以及聯合國人權公約保障公民言論自由等基本人權，讓因言獲罪的維吾爾作家和記者重獲自由。
自2009年7月起，伊力哈木多次被抓捕、跟踨、恐嚇。 2013年他本要前往美國當訪問學者，到起飛前一刻被警方從機場強行帶走。
2014年1月15日，伊力哈木·土赫提與母親被警察從家中帶走。他所創辦的《維吾爾在線》被封鎖，多名學生被捕。三十多名警察搜查全家並拿走四台電腦、三個手機（包括他家屬的手機）、上課教材、學生試捲和論文、書籍等。當局指控他指控伊加哈木通過所辦網站發布民族衝突信息，並與境外「東突」勢力勾結、從事分裂活動。 。
在最初被拘留的二十天中，他被迫戴著腳銬。從2014年1月16日到26日，他絕食抗議，原因是看守所未能提供清真食品。 2014年2月，伊力哈木被以「分裂國家罪」 正式逮捕。在昆明發生了疑為維吾爾武裝人士發動的導致29人死亡的暴力攻擊後，2014年3月1日到10日，看守所不分派食物給他作為懲罰。 2014年6月26日，他終於獲准與律師見面，據律師表示，他消瘦了不少。
2014年7月30日，伊力哈木在中國西北的新疆首府烏魯木齊市被以「分裂國家罪」正式起訴。伊力哈木·土赫提的律師提交了三次請求，要求他的案件由北京的法院審理，擔心如果由烏魯木齊法院審理他的案件，判決將會不公平，但律師的請求不獲理會。
2014年9月17日，一審開庭。2014年9月23日，經過兩天的庭審，烏魯木齊市中級人民法院判伊力哈木「分裂國家罪」罪名成立，判處無期徒刑，剝奪政治權力終生，沒收他的所有財產。判決宣佈時，據報導伊力哈木·土赫提說：「我不接受！」，被法警押出法庭。 2014年11月21日 二審宣判時，當局選擇在烏魯木齊一看守所內進行，而且法院在開庭不久才發出通知，以致伊力哈木的律師無法到場。
2014年12月8日烏魯木齊市中級法院以「分裂國家罪」分別判處七名中央民族大學的學生三至八年有期徒刑。據報導，這七名學生都是伊力哈木主持的《維吾爾在線》網站的工作人員。
2017年起，當局禁止家人去獄中探望他，現時家人並不知道他被關押在哪裏，健康和精神狀況如何。他的太太和兩名兒子現居北京，因害怕回到新疆會被關進再教育營，而不敢冒險爭取探視的權利。據流亡在美國的大女兒菊爾.伊力哈木說，她的一位表親因手機裡有與伊力哈木的合照而被判刑10年。
伊力哈木在2014年得到芭芭拉·戈德史密斯自由寫作獎（PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award），2016年獲得馬丁·恩納爾斯人權捍衛者獎（Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders ），2019年獲歐洲議會頒發最高人權獎「薩哈羅夫人權獎」（Sakharov Prize）。
參考更多資料：
伊力哈木被捕前的訪問 （2013年）：
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/interview-02072014182032.html
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/zh/case/ilham-tohti-sentenced-life-imprisonment
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/11/141125_china_xinjiang_studentstrial
資料更新：2020年10月6日
Name: Ilham Tohti ( 伊力哈木‧土赫提)
Date of birth: 25 October 1969
Occupation: Associate professor of economics at the Minzu University of China (also known as The Central University of Nationalities), founder and host of Uyghur Online (now defunct)
Date of detention: 15 January 2014
Location: the police took him away from his home in Beijing
Ground of detention: splitting the state (or separatism)
Date of formal arrest: 20 February 2014
Date of Indictment: 30 July 2014
Legal representation: Lawyer Li Fangping
Date of trial: 17 September 2014, at Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court, a two-day hearing
Date of sentencing: 23 September 2014,
Verdict: convinced of “offense of splitting the state”
Sentence: Sentenced to life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, seizure of all properties. Ilham Tohti appealed. On 21 November 2014, a sentencing hearing was held inside the detention center in which Ilham Tohti was detained, the Xinjiang High People’s Court upheld its initial conviction to life imprisonment. The authority failed to hold the appeal in public and to notify his lawyers in time.
Location of detention/imprisonment: Xinjiang No. 1 Prison but his current situation and location are unknown
Description:
Ilham Tohti was born in Artux, Xinjiang. He studied in Northeast Normal University (undergraduate) and the Graduate School of Economics of Minzu University of China (also known as The Central Unversity of Nationalities) (postgraduate). As of 2014, he is an associate professor in international business at Minzu University of China. His research areas covered income gaps and unemployment in Xinjiang.
Ilham Tohti is considered as a moderate Uyghur economist who engaged in the study of issues related to ethnic minorities. In 2006, Ilham Tohti established “Uyghur Online" (now defunct), a website published in Chinese and Uyghur to provide Uyghurs and Hans with a platform for discussion and exchange. Though the website sometimes criticized Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang and disagreed with the official discourse on the ethnic conflicts, it has never called for independence of Xinjiang.
On 5 July 2009, violent clashes between Uyghur and Han people took place in Xinjiang. The authorities stated that it happened “under the influence of the inflammatory articles on ‘Uyghur Online’ and the incitement of Ilham Tohti’s speech." and blamed it for “terrorists". Ilham Tohti replied that both peaceful resistance and violent resistance existed in Xinjiang, but most of the time, it had nothing to do with terrorism or separatism.
He published an article on the “Uyghur Online" website saying that the Beijing authorities were using “terrorism" as an excuse to stigmatize all Uyghur people. He further lobbied Beijing to improve the human rights conditions of Uyghurs, to respect the Chinese Constitution and the United Nations human rights conventions regarding freedom of speech and other basic human rights. He urged the government to release the convicted Uyghur writers and journalists.
Since July 2009, Ilham Tohti has been detained, stalked and threatened repeatedly. He planned to go to the United States as a visiting scholar in 2013, but he was forcibly taken away from the airport by the police just before takeoff.
On 15 January 2014, Ilham Tohti and his mother were taken away from their homes by the police. The “Uyghur Online" he founded was blocked and several students were arrested. More than 30 police officers searched his home, took away four computers, three mobile phones (including his family members’ mobile phones), lecture notes, students’ theses, books, etc. The authorities accused him of publishing information on ethnic conflicts through his website, colluding with “East Turkestan" forces overseas and engaging in separatist activities.
During the first twenty days of detention, he was forced to wear foot cuffs. Between 16 and 26 January 2014, he went on a hunger strike because the detention center failed to provide halal food. In February 2014, Ilham Tohti was formally arrested for “splitting the state" (or “separatism). After a violent attack by a Uyghur suspect that killed 29 people in Kunming, the detention center deprived him of food as punishment between 1 and 10 March 2014. On June 26, 2014, he was finally allowed to meet with his lawyer. According to his lawyer, Ilham Tohti lost a lot of weight in those five months.
On 30 July 2014, Ilham Tohti was formally charged with " splitting the state" (or “separatism”) in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang in northwestern China. Ilham Tohti’s lawyer submitted three applications for his case to be transferred to Beijing, fearing that if the judges in Urumqi would deliver an unfair judgment, but the applications were not approved.
On 17 September 2014, a two-day hearing started. On 23 September 2014, the Urumqi City Intermediate People’s Court convicted Ilham Tohti of " splitting the state" (or “separatism”), sentenced him to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life and confiscated all his properties. When the verdict was announced, Ilham Tohti reportedly said: “I don’t accept it!" and was escorted out of the court by the bailiff. On 21 November 2014, the authorities chose to conduct his appealing hearing in a detention center in Urumqi and issued a notice shortly before it, which prevented Ilham Tohti’s lawyers from attending. The verdict remained the same.
On 8 December 2014, the Urumqi City Intermediate People’s Court sentenced seven students from the Minzu University of China to three to eight years’ imprisonment for “offense of splitting the state”. These seven students reportedly were staff members of the “Uyghur Online" website.
Since 2017, the authorities have prohibited his family members from visiting him in prison. At present, his family members do not know where he is being held, and how his health and mental state is. Ilham Tohti’s wife and their two sons live in Beijing. Fearing that they would be sent to re-education camps when they return to Xinjiang, they dare not to demand for visits. According to the eldest daughter Jewher Ilham, who lives in exile in the United States, one of her cousins was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having a photo with Ilham Tohti on her mobile phone.
Ilham Tohti was awarded with PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award in 2014, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2016 and Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2019.
More details:
An interview with Ilham Tohti, shortly before his detention (2013)
Jewher Ilham’s twitter account
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/ilham-tohti-sentenced-life-imprisonment
Updated on 9 October 2020
