A call was made in late August for a judicial review in the case of Uyghur Christian Alimujan Yimit, who is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for ‘illegally providing state secrets to foreign nationals’.
Alimujan Yimit (also written Alimjan Yimit or Alimujiang Yimiti) is a Uyghur Christian from Xinjiang in Northwest China. In 2009, he was convicted of ‘illegally providing state secrets to foreign nationals’ and is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence. Mr Yimit has denied these charges.
‘Illegal religious activities’
Those familiar with the case believe his detention is connected with a set of earlier charges put forward by the Kashgar Municipal Bureau for Ethnic and Religious Affairs in Xinjiang, relating to his ‘illegal’ religious activities as the leader of an unregistered church.