European Parliament official calls for release of Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti

Engin Eroglu, Chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with China, has called for the release of Uyghur scholar and human rights advocate Ilham Tohti. Tohti has been serving a life sentence in China for twelve years.

Eroglu noted that Tohti’s work focused on promoting peaceful dialogue and mutual understanding between the Uyghur and Chinese communities. Since his imprisonment, Tohti’s family has reportedly been barred from visiting him since 2017.

In 2019, the European Parliament awarded Tohti the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which was accepted by his daughter, Jewher Ilham. Eroglu recently met with Jewher Ilham at the European Parliament, an encounter he stated highlighted the ongoing injustice and hardships faced by Tohti and his family.