{"id":1571720,"date":"2024-03-23T16:23:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T16:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/uyghur\/uyghur-erkin-emet-jailed-03232024122054.html"},"modified":"2024-03-23T16:23:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T16:23:00","slug":"uyghur-publisher-jailed-for-books-on-uyghur-independence-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/03\/23\/uyghur-publisher-jailed-for-books-on-uyghur-independence-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Uyghur publisher jailed for books on Uyghur independence, identity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

A prominent Uyghur who published books about Uyghur cultural identity and China\u2019s persecution of the Uyghurs has been sentenced to prison, according to a Norway-based foundation and officials in Xinjiang.<\/span><\/p>\n

Erkin Emet, 65, on a list of detained intellectuals in Xinjiang compiled by Uyghur Hjelp Foundation based in Norway, was taken into custody in July 2018, according to the organization\u2019s founder, Abduweli Ayup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emet\u2019s family said authorities accused him of inciting ethnic separatism and that he is serving a prison term, according to a source in Kashgar, asking not to be identified for security reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, his whereabouts and the length of his sentence are unknown, the source said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through confidential channels, Ayup discovered that Emet was most likely arrested for his involvement in the publication or dissemination of two books in particular.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first was the novel \u201cAltun Kesh,\u201d or \u201cGolden Shoes,\u201d by Halide Israel, about <\/span>the persecution of Uyghurs during China\u2019s 1966-76 Cultural Revolution and the importance of holding onto Uyghur identity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Emet also sold copies of Zordun Sabir's \u201cAna Yurt,\u201d or \u201cMotherland,\u201d <\/span>which chronicles the Uyghur victory over Chinese nationalist forces in the early 1940s and the establishment of the second East Turkestan Republic, in existence from 1944 to 1949.<\/span><\/p>\n

Crackdown on intellectuals<\/b><\/p>\n

Emet <\/span>was arrested during a crackdown known as \u201c<\/span>Hui Tou Kan<\/span><\/i>,\u201d or \u201cLooking Back,\u201d a police officer who works near the Xinjiang\u2019s Health Publishing House in Urumqi, where Emet used to work, told Radio Free Asia.<\/span><\/p>\n

At that time, Chinese authorities were detaining Uyghur intellectuals, including writers and publishers, in internment camps or prisons for producing works viewed as harboring separatist tendencies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Material written or published by prominent Uyghurs was scrutinized, even though it had previously received government approval.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring <\/span>Hui Tou Kan<\/span><\/i>, they investigated all previously published books,\u201d said an official at Xinjiang\u2019s Political Law Office in Urumqi, the region\u2019s capital.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The most problematic book related to his arrest was \u201cAltun Kesh,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another source said that his involvement in the sale of \u201cAna Yurt\u201d was also behind his arrest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bookstore manager<\/b><\/p>\n

Emet, who has two children and several grandchildren, first served as deputy director of the Kashgar branch of Xinhua Bookstore in the 1990s, according to Ayup, whose group is also known as Uyghuryar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emet was the first bookstore manager to order 5,000 copies of \u201cAna Yurt,\u201d which sold out quickly, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe opened multiple large bookstores in different counties of Kashgar, expanded the Kashgar Xinhua Bookstore, and diversified its offers with different categories, which proved to be successful,\u201d Ayup told RFA.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emet was appointed director of the Kashgar Uyghur Publishing House at the end of 2010.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There he published notable works, including Hojamuhemmed Muhammad\u2019s eight volumes of poetry collections and was instrumental in getting Halide Israel\u2019s \u201cKechmish,\u201d or \u201cTales of the Past,\u201d and \u201cAltun Kesh\u201d published, Ayup said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In May 2018, Emet moved to Urumqi to become director of Xinjiang\u2019s Health Publishing House, where he worked with Qurban Mamut, a renowned retired Uyghur editor at the <\/span>Uyghur Civilization Journal<\/span><\/i>, according to Ayup.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Two months later, Emet was arrested.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mamut, father of RFA journalist Bahram Sintash, was arrested later and sentenced to 15 years in prison, Ayup said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \n \n


\r\nThis content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia<\/a> and was authored by By Shohret Hoshur for RFA Uyghur.
<\/p>\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Erkin Emet was arrested in July 2018 during a crackdown on writers and publishers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27789,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2242,857,42614,42620,3353,356,25492,62180,785,27149,27150,6952],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27789"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1571720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1571721,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571720\/revisions\/1571721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1571720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1571720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1571720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}