In 2018, Abdughapar Abdurusul—a prominent philanthropist and owner of a multimillion-dollar import-export business in Ghulja that trades with Kazakhstan—was arrested for making an unauthorized Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and for “tax evasion,”.
His wife, Merhaba, was also detained.
Merhaba later died in a Chinese detention camp.
The authorities seized the family’s fixed assets, including companies and properties valued at several hundred million dollars.
Abdughapar was initially sentenced to death but was released in 2020, according to Abdusattar, a Chinese Uyghur Muslim, who is a businessman residing in Europe.
Abdusattar believes that the release of Abdughapar was prompted by his public disclosures about their detentions through Western media.
Abdughapar was re-arrested in the summer of 2021 but was released a few months later. The reasons for this second arrest remain unknown,
Such arrests and re-arrest illustrate a pattern of Chinese authorities detaining Uyghurs who have previously been held in detention camps or prisons under various pretexts, which authorities claim are necessary to eliminate perceived “threats to national security.” This includes entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and Uyghurs who have travelled abroad, especially to Muslim-majority countries.
One Chinese Uyghur Muslim mentioned a 100-day clearance campaign aimed at re-arresting individuals who had been previously detained and released.
“The Chinese government is trying to erase us Uyghur Muslims”, he said.
