Uyghur nutritionist detained by authorities in Xinjiang for social media messages: Report
Dec 22, 2022
Beijing [China], December 22 : A well-known Uyghur nutritionist Behtiyar Sadir has been detained by authorities in China's Xinjiang region for messages he posted on social media, according to his Sweden-based siblings and the police in the region's capital Urumqi, reported Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Sadir is a national-level health coach and a member of Xinjiang's Association of Health and Nutrition. He went missing in mid-October after Chinese authorities placed Urumqi under a strict lockdown to contain the spread of COVID, revealed Behtiyar's younger brother Seydijan Sadir, and elder sister, Munewer Sadir.
Behtiyar's siblings were alerted about his disappearance after he stopped using WeChat and updating information on his company website. According to Behtiyar's siblings, they lost control of their brother in 2017 after Chinese authorities began detaining Uyghurs, putting them in "re-education" camps to prevent religious extremism and terrorism.
Behtiyar was arrested on suspicion of revealing state secrets, said an officer at the Hotan Road Police Station in Urumqi on being asked about Sadir's status by the RFA.
The officer couldn't provide further details and referred RFA to the city's Qarlighach District Police Station. "The Qarlighach police station arrested him," he said.
An officer at the Qarlighach police station said he was present during Sadir's arrest. Sadir along with other Uyghurs were arrested during a night raid, the officer said.
"It seems he took photos on the spot and sent them via his WeChat, which is why he was arrested and will be investigated," the officer said, suggesting the images may have been related to the harsh restrictions residents were forced to endure during the COVID-19 lockdown, reported RFA.
The officer said he has no idea about where Sadir is being held and had no details about the other Uyghurs who were detained along with him.
Recently, some 55 Uyghur organizations called on world leaders to recognize December 9 as Uyghur Genocide Recognition Day, reported Radio Free Asia (RFA).
On December 9, 2021, an independent UK-based Uyghur Tribunal announced its findings that China committed genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in its Xinjiang region.
Uyghur organizations from 20 countries have asked global leaders to take action to end the Chinese government's human rights atrocities against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs.
"On December 9, 2021, after 18 months of investigations, and reading through hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and holding hearings from witnesses, the Uyghur Tribunal declared China's crimes in East Turkestan as genocide," RFA quoted the president of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), Dolkun Isa as saying.
