BEIJING CONFIRMS UIGHUR MUSLIM DOCTOR JAILED ON ‘TERRORISM’ CHARGES

Thu 31 December 2020:

China confirms Dr Gulshan Abbas, a Uighur Muslim doctor who disappeared two years ago, has been sent to jail for taking part in “organised terrorism”.

China on Thursday confirmed that a Uighur Muslim doctor has been sent to jail on terrorism charges, a day after her family claimed that she had been imprisoned for 20 years.

The relatives of Gulshan Abbas on Wednesday told US congressional committee that she had been sentenced to 20 years due to her involvement in the rights of Uighur Muslims, a minority community in China.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Thursday that Abbas has been sentenced for participating in “organised terrorism, aiding terrorist activities and seriously disrupting social order”.

“Gulshan Abbas has been sentenced according to the law by Chinese judicial organs for taking part in organised terrorism, aiding terrorist activities and seriously disrupting social order,” Wang was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

He also asked US leaders to “respect facts, stop fabricating lies to smear China” and not indulge in the Xinjiang issue, calling it Beijing’s internal affairs.

Rights activists claim about one million Uighurs and people from other Turkish minorities are put in detention camps in the northwestern Xinjiang region in China in abysmal condition.

China describes these facilities as “vocational training centres”, but rights group say prisoners face torture and forced labour.

Photo: Rushan Abbas holds up a photo of her sister, Gulshan Abbas, in a photo posted to social media on Feb. 12, 2019.