The Process of Ilham’s Being Taken from His Home Yesterday by Xinjiang and Beijing Police

感谢友人Elliot Sperling，将我昨天的博文《伊力哈木昨天被新疆、北京警察从家中带走经过》译为英文。

A Photo of Ilham taken 8 days ago.

(The information below comes from the record of three conversations with Ilham’s wife, Guzelnor and corrects and supplements some of what was stated in yesterday’s blog post.)

Yesterday at noon, Ilham’s wife went to work and Ilham stayed at home, taking a midday nap with their two sons (the eldest 7, the youngest 4). Ilham’s 70-year-old mother went out and at the West Gate of Minzu University “opportunely encountered” two Uyghurs, a man and a woman who said they were fellow townsfolk from Atush in Xinjiang. Ilham’s mother recognized the woman. With great kindness she was invited to the Xinjiang Office to eat and chat. They also did a turn around Tiananmen. She was only taken home at 10:30, after dinner. It’s just as the information from Ilham’s friend Huang Zhangjin had it: “Perhaps, given her heart ailments, they didn’t want to arrest her son in her presence.”

Probably between 3:30 and 4:00, there was knocking on Ilham’s door. Ilham opened the door and a line of Xinjiang police burst in, pushing him onto the sofa. There were a lot of police and Ilham was quickly taken away by one group of them. The eldest son was frightened and began to cry. Ilham had time to tell his son not to cry.

Ilham’s wife received a phone call from the leadership: she had to return home immediately. At first she thought it was due to the numerous medical problems of Ilham’s mother, who was most recently preparing to be hospitalized. Perhaps she’d suddenly fallen ill and thus she had to return home urgently? But when she got home, she discovered it to be overflowing, from the doorway into the rooms, with some 30 or 40 police, male and female, from the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, the Beijing Public Security Bureau, and the local police station. Other than the police, only her two sons were there.

The police began to search everywhere throughout the home, including the closets and the children’s bedroom. Afterwards they took away the family’s four computers, three cell phones (including Guzelnor’s cell phone), portable hard drives, flash drives and writeable CDs/DVDs. They also took Ilham’s lesson plans, his student’s exams and essays, and books, etc. In addition, they carried off his small strongbox containing his official papers and bank cards. Only after 9 p.m. did the police finally leave the home.

While the home was being scoured, Ilham’s wife was carefully watched, to the point where she was now and again told by the police to hurry up when she went to the toilet. The attitude of the Uyghur police from Xinjiang was particularly rough and crude. Her two sons were quite terrified.

At around 10:30 Ilham’s mother was brought home. When her grandson told her that Ilham had been taken away by the police she collapsed onto the bed, where she remains.

Yesterday, while Ilham was being taken away by the police, 7 Uyghur students who were studying at Central Minzu University (5 males, 2 females) were taken by the police from their individual dormitories. Their cell phones, computers and bank cards were also taken. Late that night the 2 female students were released and sent home. However there is absolutely no word about the 5 male students, just as is the case with Ilham.

The situation today is: the district in which Ilham resides now has lots of police. Five or six police are stationed outside his apartment, #1702. Ilham’s family is not allowed out. When his wife takes the trash downstairs she is always followed closely by the police. At 4:20 in the afternoon over 10 police came to continue searching the home.

Ilham’s wife says that her greatest concern is Ilham’s mother. She suffers from hypertension and heart disease. She had already undergone an operation in Beijing. Most recently, because she was unwell, she was making plans to be hospitalized.

Ilham’s wife said that yesterday she told the police that Ilham had done nothing illegal and that she was proud of her husband.

Several days ago, my husband Wang Lixiong and I went to Minzu University to visit Ilham. He recounted that more than two months ago, on November 2, while driving to the airport to pick up his mother who was coming to Beijing from Xinjiang for medical treatment, he was purposely rammed by the police car tailing him. The police even said that it was intentional, and that they wanted to kill his whole family. Ilham’s wife and two sons were in the car at the time.

Ilham also said that he had heard that the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau had made a request to the relevant authorities in Beijing for his arrest, but Beijing had never replied.