China: Former Uyghur Muslim preacher dies in Xinjiang prison

Beijing: A Uyghur Muslim preacher, who was serving a five-year sentence in China’s far-western Xinjiang region for making a religious pilgrimage abroad, has died of liver cancer in prison, media reports said.

Omar Huseyin, 55, was the former hatip, or preacher, at the Qarayulghun Mosque in Korla, known as Ku’erle in Chinese and the second-largest city in Xinjiang, reports Radio Free Asia.

Authorities apprehended him in September 2017 amid a widespread crackdown on Islamic clergy and other prominent Uyghurs, for traveling to the holy city Mecca in 2015, the news portal reported.

Authorities also detained Huseyin’s three brothers in 2017, one of whom was serving a 12-year sentence for participating in religious activities and died in prison. read more