Kazakhstan puts campaigner against Chinese camps under house arrest
Mar 12, 2019, 11:21 IST
Kazakh rights activist Serikzhan Bilash walks outside a courthouse in Almaty, Kazakhstan. (Reuters)ALMATY: A Kazakh court has placed an activist who campaigned on behalf of ethnic Kazakhs in China under house arrest on the charge of calling for a "jihad" against the Chinese, state prosecutors said.
Serikzhan Bilash, a naturalized Kazakh citizen born in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, leads Atajurt, a group that has worked for the release of ethnic Kazakhs from "re-education" camps where activists say more than a million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims are held.
Police detained Bilash in Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city, last weekend and brought him before a court in Astana, the Central Asian nation's capital.
In a statement issued late on Monday, the Astana prosecutor's office said Bilash is suspected of making the jihad comment at a public event last month. He has yet to make a plea.
Prosecutors said the court placed Bilash under house arrest for two months while they prepare for trial.
Serikzhan Bilash, a naturalized Kazakh citizen born in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, leads Atajurt, a group that has worked for the release of ethnic Kazakhs from "re-education" camps where activists say more than a million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims are held.
Police detained Bilash in Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city, last weekend and brought him before a court in Astana, the Central Asian nation's capital.
In a statement issued late on Monday, the Astana prosecutor's office said Bilash is suspected of making the jihad comment at a public event last month. He has yet to make a plea.
Prosecutors said the court placed Bilash under house arrest for two months while they prepare for trial.
Download The Times of India News App for Latest World News.
more from times of india News
LATEST VIDEOS
All Comments ()+^ Back to Top
Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.
HIDE