Sat 17 August 2019:
A Kazakh rights activist who campaigned against the detention of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in special camps in China has pleaded guilty to a hate speech charge in exchange for securing his freedom, his lawyer said on Saturday.
Serikzhan Bilash, whose activism in defence of Muslim and Turkic minorities in Chinese region of Xinjiang earned him global media attention, told AFP he struck a plea bargain with the court that allowed him freedom but will end his activism.
“I had to end my activism against China. It was that or seven years in jail. I had no choice,” Bilash said at a restaurant where he held a celebratory midnight feast with his family and about 40 supporters.
Bilash agreed to accept guilt over inter-ethnic incitement charges triggered by his call for an “information Jihad” against the Chinese authorities over their policies in Xinjiang earlier this year.
“I had to do this for my family and my children,” he told supporters.
His release capped a dramatic night in Almaty, where some 200 hundred supporters surrounded the court where Bilash appeared and chanted for his freedom.
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