A Leaked Indictment: Heavy Punishments for Uyghurs Who Tell the Truth on the Web

The following is an excerpt from an article in Bitter Winter by Kok Bayraq on the prevalence of Uyghur oppression related to internet activity, and “913 cases,” many of which are catalogued in VOC’s Xinjiang Police Files.

“An indictment that appeared on social media last week revealed that Uyghur youth Mirap Muhammet was tried for using a virtual private network (VPN) to bypass the Great Firewall, which blocks thousands of web sites and services in China, and ‘illegally transfer intelligence abroad.’ Although it is unknown how he was punished, it can be easily guessed.

Breaking the Great Firewall and ‘spreading gossip’ via the Internet are both crimes in China, but leaking state secrets has much more serious consequences.”

The article continues: “To hide this reality in its propaganda war, China continues to use all of its state power, both economically and diplomatically. Mirap Muhammet was challenging the regime at a critical time, on what for the authorities is a serious war platform, the Internet, and about the extremely sensitive issue of genocide.

Omarjan Jamal, a former deputy head of the Urumqi Police Department’s Counterterrorism Team who is currently living in Sweden as a political refugee, told the author: ‘Given the way the indictment was written, the sentences and terms used, and the general situation in the region, there is no reason to doubt its authenticity. This is typical of the thousands of indictments that I have personally seen and held during my term in office. The only difference is that this one has come to light.’

Hasanjan Onuyghur, a former Norwegian-based stringer for Radio Free Asia (RFA), told the author, ‘Bypassing the Great Firewall are referred to as ‘cases of 913’ in Chinese documentation. Those found responsible for such cases are sentenced to 7–15 years in prison. Mirap Muhammet’s action was deliberate; obviously, his punishment may have been severe.’    

Many “913”cases can be seen in the Xinjiang police files—another collection of leaked documents translated and published by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington. In these cases, the leaked information is put on record as ‘gossip’ or ‘lies.’ In Mirap’s indictment, the information he conveyed was referred to as ‘intelligence.’ Thus, in this indictment, China did not deny the accuracy of the information disclosed by Mirap Muhammet. He was punished because of the nature of the information. China regards itself as engaged in a propaganda war, and the revenge against Mirap might have been correspondingly harsh.

According to the indictment, he was arrested on April 1, 2019, and his case was transferred to the prosecutor on April 25, 2019. The prosecutor determined that Muhammet’s actions constituted a ‘crime.’ Of course, after this determination, he could no longer sleep comfortably in his apartment in an 18-story high-rise building in Urumqi, which was mentioned in the indictment.”

Read the full article in Bitter Winter.