The I-SOC (Islamic Society) (X)

A court in northwestern China’s restive Xinjiang region has sentenced a prominent ethnic Uyghur Muslim religious scholar to nine years behind bars for “refusing to cooperate” with Chinese authorities, according to police and local officials.

According to reports on Uyghur social media, Qamber Amber was handed nine years in prison following a March 21 public trial at the Hanerik township high school in Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecture’s Hotan county.

Amber was among 17 people charged with “various crimes related to state security,” the reports said, without providing details of the verdicts for the other 16 defendants.

Chief of the Hanerik police station Abdugheni Zakir said Amber, who had been stripped of his role as imam of Hanerik Mosque in 2004 for using “ironic and critical terms” against state policy in his speeches, had been offered reinstatement last year, but refused the position.

“Last year, when the government began a campaign against religious extremism, the authorities gave him a chance to go back to the mosque as imam, but he rejected the offer because of health problems,” he told RFA’s Uyghur Service.

“Later, we found that he had been traveling everywhere in Hotan to participate in public events, including weddings and burial ceremonies, and he has never refused to preach in public if requested.”

Zakir said Amber had most recently given a speech at a Muslim marriage ceremony, despite restrictions on religious speeches without permits.

“Although he didn’t criticize state policy or instigate anything, his speech was not in line with what the government encourages,” he said.

When asked what law in the Chinese constitution Amber had broken, Zakir was unable to say.

“Of course, as in many cases, the charge doesn’t fit with the law, but it syncs very well with several key regulations about maintaining stability, issued by prefectural and regional authorities,” he said.

“There is a footnote to every law which [informs local authorities]: ‘You can implement this law as needed according to your specific situation.’ In our area, stability is the primary goal—that is how we are following the regulations and have not contradicted any law.”