Alimjan Hemit is an Uyghur Christian who was arrested in early 2008, charged with "leaking state secrets", and sentenced to 15 years in prison in late 2009. He is believed to still be held at the Xinjiang No. 3 Prison in Urumqi.
Alimjan Hemit was a Protestant priest and led a "house church".
He had previously worked for an "American company" called "Xinjiang Taipingyang Nongye Gongsi" as an interpreter, before they offered him a full-time job in Hotan. Alimjan later left this company and moved back to Urumqi, where he was hired as a project manager for "Xinjiang Jiaerhao Foodstuff Company Limited", which was also reportedly foreign owned.
He and his wife, Gulnur, have two children.
Residential address (as given in one of the court documents): Apt. 604, Building No. 3, 12 Victory Road, Tianshan District, Urumqi (乌鲁木齐市天山区胜利路12号3号楼604室).
Registration address: Huicheng Residential Area (汇城小区), Kashgar City.Alimjan Yimit (阿里木江*依米提), an Uyghur Protestant priest, 35 years old at time of detention.
Lived in Hami Prefecture.
Testimony 4: The victim was a "house church" leader and worked in agriculture.
Testimony 4: The victim has a wife, Gulnar, and two children.
Testimony 5: The victim converted to Christianity from Islam "over 10 years ago" (as of 9 April 2008).
Testimony 4: The victim operated a business called the "Xinjiang Jiaerhao Foodstuff Company Ltd." (Testimony 5: One of the foreign-owned companies for which the victim worked was an "American company" called "Xinjiang Taipingyang Nongye Gongsi". The victim initially worked as an interpreter for this company, before they offered him a full-time job in Hotan. The victim later left the company and moved back to Urumqi, where he was hired as a project manager for the Xinjiang Jiaerhao Foodstuff Company, which was also reportedly foreign owned.)
Testimony 15:
Registration address: Huicheng Residential Area (汇城小区), Kashgar City.
current location
Xinjiang No. 3 Prison.Xinjiang's No. 3 prison in Urumqi.
chronology of detention(s)
During Alimjan's employment with two foreign-owned companies, he was "often" called in for interrogation by the State Security Bureau. His house was searched multiple times and his personal computer was seized. He complained to the State Security Bureau headquarters in Urumqi that he had been physically abused, but his complaints went unanswered. He was reportedly forbidden from discussing these interrogations with others.
The Kashgar Municipal Bureau for Ethnic Religious Affairs ordered that Alimjan's business license be revoked on September 13, 2007, accusing him of using it as a front for "preaching Christianity among people of Uyghur ethnicity". The Kashgar Municipal Bureau for Ethnic Religious Affairs also accused him of "distributing religious propaganda materials" and "converting people to Christianity".
The Kashgar State Security Bureau arrested Alimjan in 2008, allegedly in connection with a “national security issue”. The day of his arrest has been reported as January 11, January 12, and February 12 (January 12 is the date according to official records). On February 20, 2008, the charges against Alimjan were changed to "inciting secessionist sentiment to split the country" and "collecting and selling intelligence for overseas organizations".
Following the arrest, authorities reportedly threatened Alimjan with various sentences, ranging from six years in prison to execution. They held him at the Kashgar Detention Center [presumably, the 喀什市看守所] without a verdict for two years.
A verdict was initially expected by the end of April 2008, but Alimjan's trial was rescheduled for May 2008. He had a hearing on May 27, 2008, when he was to be tried for "instigating separatism and providing national secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations or individuals"; however, the "Xinjiang Court" returned his case to state prosecutors because of "insufficient evidence". The Public Security Bureau returned the case to state prosecutors in September 2008. State prosecutors then sent the case back to court in October 2008.
At around 10:30 a.m. on March 31, 2009, Alimjan was seen with his hands bound, being roughly escorted by police and a prison doctor at Nongsanshi Hospital in Kashgar. Alimjan was reportedly crying out to onlookers in Mandarin: "I'm sick. Tell my lawyer to come quickly to see me." Alimjan's health problems were not immediately clear at the time. Li Dunyong, one of Alimjan's lawyers, asked the main prosecutor involved in the case for a report of the incident at Nongsanshi Hospital in Kashgar. The prosecution office said they would provide a report to Li Dunyong on April 2, 2009, but no report was immediately available.
In an article published on April 2, 2009, Li Dunyong said that he had visited Alimjan the previous week and that Alimjan had been selected as the head of his prison cell.
On July 14, 2009, "the court in Kashgar" notified Alimjan's wife that his trial would be held on the morning of July 28, 2009.
On July 28, 2009, a secret trial was held at the Kashgar District Intermediate People's Court. The charge of "instigating separatism" was dropped, and Alimjan was tried for "providing national secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations or individuals". This was Alimjan's first hearing since his arrest, and allegedly in violation of China's Criminal Procedure Law. Alimjan's wife and mother were forbidden from attending this trial. His lawyers at the time were Li Dunyong and Liang Xiaojun.
The Xinjiang People's Procuratorate in Urumqi warned Alimjan's wife that she "should not have become involved [in] advocating and speaking out about her husband's case". Unspecified officials also told her, in relation to the trial on July 28, 2009, that Alimjan would "not be released without charges".
On October 27, 2009, Alimjan was notified of the verdict. He had been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Li Dunyong, one of Alimjan's lawyers, lodged an appeal in response to the verdict. The People's High Court upheld the verdict, the sentence of 15 years, on March 16, 2010 (official records give March 23, 2010 as his date of sentencing).
According to official records, he was transferred to "another prison" (其它监狱) [typically, the exact name of a prison would be specified, but isn't here, for some reason] on April 11, 2010. [Presumably, this was the No. 3 Prison, but it is not clear why this wasn't specified.]
Two of Alimjan's lawyers, Li Baiguang and Liu Peifu, appealed to the Beijing Supreme Court, but after reconsidering the victim's case, the Beijing Supreme Court ruled to uphold the original verdict (the 15-year sentence). According to Li Baiguang, the sentence was illegal and void because it "never succeeded in showing how Alimjan supplied state secrets to people overseas".
Alimjan's family was initially not allowed to see him, but they were permitted to visit him briefly at the Xinjiang No. 3 Prison on April 20, 2010. They were "only allowed to speak to him via telephone through a glass barrier". They reported that at the time, he was "noticeably thinner but in good spirits". The Xinjiang Bureau of Prison Management later granted Alimjan's wife and other close family members permission to visit him once per month. Lawyers, however, were prevented from seeing him.
On August 23, 2011, Alimjan's case was reportedly being reviewed at the national and provincial levels.
In 2014, the XUAR High People's Court, whose leadership had since changed, reportedly approached Gulnur to discuss the possibility of an appeal in relation to Alimjan's case. Gulnur subsequently applied for an appeal and although her application was processed, it reportedly "stalled in the court system".
In late 2015, anti-corruption officials who were reportedly dissatisfied with the reluctance of the Xinjiang government to address Alimjan's case offered him pardon on the condition that he admit his guilt, but Alimjan allegedly refused, insisting that he was innocent and claiming that his sentence was "the result of provincial government corruption".January 12, 2008
Testimony 1: the victim has been detained since 12 February 2008.
Testimony 2: arrested on 11 January 2008 (Testimony 4: January 12) by the Bureau of State Security of Kashgar, then held at Kashgar Detention Center for over two years without a verdict.
Testimony 4: Following the victim's arrest, he was reportedly threatened with various sentences, ranging from six years in prison to execution.
Testimony 2: A verdict was initially expected by the end of April 2008, but the victim's trail was rescheduled for May 2008. The victim had a hearing on 27 May 2008, where he was to be tried for "instigating separatism and providing national secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations or individuals", in which the "Xinjiang Court" returned his case to state prosecutors due to "insufficient evidence". The Public Security Bureau returned the case to state prosecutors in September 2008. State prosecutors then sent the case back to court in October 2008.
Testimony 8: The victim was seen with his hands bound being roughly escorted by police and a prison doctor at Nongsanshi Hospital in Kashgar at around 10am on 31 March 2009. The victim was reportedly crying out to onlookers in Chinese [presumably Mandarin] "I'm sick. Tell my lawyer to come quickly to see me." The victim's health problems were not immediately clear at the time. (Li Dunyong (one of the victim's lawyers) asked the main prosecutor involved in the victim's case for a report of the incident at Nongsanshi Hospital in Kashgar. The prosecution office said that they would provide a report to Li Dunyong on 2 April 2009, but no report was immediately available.)
Testimony 6: The victim's wife was notified on 14 July 2009 by "the court in Kashgar" that the victim's trial would be held on the morning of 28 July 2009.
Testimony 2+3+6: On 28 July 2009, a secret trial was held at Kashi District Intermediate People's Court, in which the victim was tried for "collecting and selling intelligence for overseas organisations". Testimony 6 says that the charge was "revealing state secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations". Testimony 2 confirms that the charge of "instigating separatism" was dropped and that the victim was only tried on 28 July 2009 for "providing national secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations or individuals". This was the victim's first hearing since his arrest, and as such, was in violation of China's Criminal Procedure Law. The victim's wife and victim's mother were forbidden from attending this trial. The victim's lawyers at the time were Li Dunyong and Liang Xiaojun.
Testimony 6: The victim's wife was warned by the Xinjiang People's Procuratorate in Urumqi that she "should not have become involved [in] advocating and speaking out about her husband's case". Unspecified officials also told the victim's wife that the victim would "not be released without charges" (in relation to the 28 July 2009 trial).
Testimony 4: On 27 October 2009, the victim was notified of the verdict (that he had been sentenced to 15 years in prison).
Testimony 3: One of the victim's lawyers, Li Dunyong, lodged an appeal in response to the 15 year sentence. The People's High Court upheld the original verdict (the 15 year sentence) on 16 March 2010.
Testimony 4: Two of the victim's lawyers, Li Baiguang and Liu Peifu, appealed to the Beijing Supreme Court, but after reconsidering the victim's case, the Beijing Supreme Court ruled to uphold the original verdict (the 15 year sentence). According to Li Baiguang, the sentence was illegal and void because it "never succeeded in showing how Alimjan supplied state secrets to people overseas".
Testimony 4: The victim's case was reportedly being reviewed at the national and provincial levels on 23 August 2011.
Testimony 4: The Kashgar Municipal Bureau for Ethnic Religious Affairs ordered that the victim's business license be revoked on 13 September 2007, accusing the victim of using it as a front for "preaching Christianity among people of Uyghur ethnicity". The Kashgar Municipal Bureau for Ethnic Religious Affairs also accused the victim of "distributing religious propaganda materials" and "converting people to Christianity".
Testimony 4: During the victim's employment with two foreign-owned companies, the victim was "often" called in for interrogation by the State Security Bureau. His house was searched multiple times and his personal computer was seized. The victim complained to the State Security Bureau headquarters in Urumqi that he had been physically abused, but his complaints went unanswered. The victim was reportedly forbidden from discussing these interrogations with others.
Testimony 11: In 2014, the Xinjiang Higher People's Court, whose leadership had since changed, reportedly approached Guli Nuer to discuss the possibility of an appeal in relation to Alimjan Yimit's case; Guli Nuer subsequently applied for an appeal and although her application was processed, it reportedly "stalled in the court system."
- In late 2015, anti-corruption officials who were reportedly dissatisfied with the reluctance of the Xinjiang government to address Alimjan Yimit's case offered Alimjan Yimit a pardon on the condition that he admitted to guilt, but Alimjan Yimit refused this offer, insisting that he was innocent and "claiming that his sentence was the result of provincial government corruption."
Testimony 13: A record in the Urumqi police databases notes his phone being checked on October 31, 2017 on 155 Yangzijiang Road (扬子江路155). No additional explanation is provided.
Testimony 14: another record mentions his being entered into the iTap database, also on October 31, 2017.
Testimony 15: The start date of his sentence is reported as January 12, 2008, which should in principle be the date of his initial detention. He was officially taken into custody on the same day. On March 23, 2010, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with release scheduled on January 11, 2023. He was transferred to "another prison" (其它监狱) on April 11, 2010.
suspected and/or official reason(s) for detention
Alimjan was sentenced to 15 years in prison for "leaking state secrets" to foreign organizations, a crime under Article 111 of China's Criminal Law. At one point, he had also been charged with "instigating separatism", but this was later dropped.
Alimjan's lawyer said that Alimjan had previously told a U.S. citizen in Xinjiang about an interview he had with local authorities about his preaching activities, and that the interview's contents had later been classified as a state secret. Alimjan had also given interviews [plural] to media from outside of China. These could be reasons for the charge related to revealing state secrets.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled in Opinion 29/2008, dated September 12, 2008, that Alimjan's arrest and subsequent detention were arbitrary and in violation of international law, saying that he was detained as a result of his religion.
Government records from 2015 classify his case as an "endangering state security case" (危害国家安全案), but no specific crime is given.Inciting separatism and leaking state secrets. His lawyer said that Alimjan previously told a U.S. citizen in Xinjiang about an interview between Alimjan and local authorities about Alimjan's preaching activities, and that the interview's contents were later classified as a state secret.
According to a video mentioning his case: charges included “disseminating Christian literature and leading people to follow Christ”.
Testimony 4: arrested in connection with a "national security issue".
Testimony 4: On 20 February 2008, the charges being laid against the victim were changed to "inciting secessionist sentiment to split the country" and "collecting and selling intelligence for overseas organizations."
Testimony 4: the sentence was for "providing state secrets to overseas organisations".
Testimony 7: the sentence was for "instigating separatism and revealing state secrets".
Testimony 4: The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled in Opinion 29/2008 (dated 12 September 2008) that the arrest and subsequent detention of the victim was arbitrary and in violation of international law, saying that the victim was detained as a result of his religion.
Testimony 4: Li Dunyong is quoted as saying that "religion lies at the heart of this case."
Testimony 2: the victim had taken interviews [plural] with media from outside of China. Details are not provided, but this could be the reason for the charge relating to revealing state secrets.
Testimony 15: his case is classified as an "endangering state security case" (危害国家安全案), but not specific crime is given.
last reported status
Serving his sentence. On July 9, 2018, Church in Chains reported that a local source had said that Alimjan was allowed to call his family once a month and was "in a peaceful and stable state physically and spiritually".
[There is also a high likelihood that he is being subjected to forced labor, as the Xinjiang No. 3 Lathe Factory is based inside the prison and is reported to employ the majority of inmates.]
A record in the Urumqi police databases notes his phone being checked on October 31, 2017 on 155 Yangzijiang Road (扬子江路155), with no additional explanation provided. A different record notes that he was entered into the iTap database on the same day. [It is not clear if he was out of prison when this was done or if it was all done without his being present.]
His release is scheduled for January 11, 2023.On August 6, the court sentenced Alimjan to 15 years in prison for "leaking state secrets" to foreign organizations, a crime under Art. 111 of China's Criminal Law.
The victim has claimed being beaten in detention. His family have been denied visiting rights.
Testimony 4: The victim's health was reportedly affected by harsh conditions in [presumably pre-trial] detention.
[There is a high likelihood of the victim being subjected to forced labor, as the Xinjiang No. 3 Lathe Factory is based inside the prison and is reported to employ the majority of inmates.]
Testimony 4: The victim's family were initially not allowed to see the victim, but they were permitted to visit him briefly at the Xinjiang No. 3 Prison on 20 April 2010. They were "only allowed to speak to him via telephone through a glass barrier." They reported that the victim was "noticeably thinner but in good spirits" at the time. The Xinjiang Bureau of Prison Management later granted the victim's wife and other close family members of the victim permission to visit the victim once per month. Lawyers, however, were prevented from seeing the victim.
Testimony 8: Li Dunyong (one of the victim's lawyers) visited the victim whilst he was in prison "last week" [article was published on 2 April 2009] and said that the client was selected as the head of his prison cell.
Testimony 9-10: as of January 2013, the victim's wife had been limited to visiting him once every three months.
Testimony 11: 9 July 2018: An unspecified local source reported that A is allowed to call his family once a month and is "in a peaceful and stable state physically and spiritually."
how testifier(s) learned of victim's situation
Li Dunyong presumably learned of Alimjan's situation through his direct involvement in the legal case.
Alimjan's wife, Gulnur, lives in the region. As of 2013, she was able to visit Alimjan in prison once every three months.
Much of the reporting on the case comes through ChinaAid or cites ChinaAid, which appears to rely on a mix of sources [presumably in the region] and official court documents.
Church in Chains also cites a "local source" for the most recent update on Alimjan.
Official information further corroborating the details of Alimjan's detention comes from government records.Testimony 1+5+7: not stated.
Testimony 2+6: mix of sources [not very clear which].
Testimony 3: presumably by being directly involved in the legal case.
Testimony 4: cites itself, China Aid, and Compass Direct News.
Testimony 8: cites China Aid.
Testimony 9: by virtue of trying to visit him and being denied.
Testimony 11: not clear, though the most recent update cites a "local source".
Testimony 15: this information comes directly from the government bodies.
additional information
In May 2009, authorities declined Li Dunyong's annual bar registration renewal, apparently as a result of him questioning the form, content, and validity of what he called a "flawed" evidence certificate. The evidence certificate was verified by the "Bureau of Conservative Secrets" but was not signed by the verifier, which was reportedly contrary to Chinese law. One other unspecified lawyer who defended Alimjan also lost their license.
Testimony 4: Li Dunyong had his annual bar registration renewal declined in May 2009, apparently as a result of him questioning the form, content and validity of what he called a "flawed" evidence certificate. The evidence certificate was verified by the "Bureau of Conservative Secrets" but was not signed by the verifier, which was reportedly contrary to Chinese law. One other unspecified lawyer who defended the victim also lost their license.
Testimony 1: before the victim was sentenced, the victim's mother was told by unspecified government sources that the Kashi Public Security Bureau was "secretly planning to sentence her son to three years of re-education through labour." Unspecified sources also said that the Public Security Bureau arrested the victim in error and that the aforementioned three year sentence was an attempt to cover up their mistake.
Xinjiang No. 3 Prison
