[JAPANESE] [HOME]
Release Tohti Tunyaz!
Jailed uyghur student has Todai on his side By KATSUHIKO SHIMIZU, The Asahi Shinbun（International Herald Tribune-The Asahi Shinbun- August 30, 2006）
Tsugitaka Sato, a University of Tokyo (Todai) professor emeritus, is determined to see one of his students freed from an 11-year term i a Chinese prison for inciting unrest.
Sato traveled to the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region in western China in late July to campaign for the release fo Tohti Tunyaz, 46, a Uyghur who was a student of Sato's in Japan until 1998, when he was arrested o a visit home.
Authorities say he was involved in the Xinjiang region independence movement.
Sato, 63, an expert on Islamic regions, spent about a week in the capital of Urumqi, petitioning officials on Tohti's behalf.
It was Sato7S fourth visit to Urumqi since the arrest.
"I was unable to see him. But it is important to show to the Chinese authorities that we are still greatly concerned about this," said Sato.
Tohti entered the University of Tokyo's graduate school in 1995. He traveled home to Xinjiang Uyghur three years later to look for historical documents to support his thesis about China's policies toward the country's ethnic minorities.
He was arrested a few weeks after arriving there.
Chinese authorities alleged that Tohti planned to publish a book that would encourage the Xinjiang independence movement. His trial took two years.
In 2000, he was found guilty of inciting national disunity and sentenced to 11 years i prison by the Supreme Court.
Since then, the University of Tokyo has continued to lobby for his release. Successive presidents of the university have written letters to Chinese leaders to ask for Tohti's release.
"Tohti was critical of the independence movement. He did not plan to publish a book. His arrest is based on misunderstandings," the letters state.
When Sato retired three years ago, the university appointed another professor as Tohti's adviser, listing the imprisoned student as "temporarily absent" in its student rolls.
"The university is renewing hs record every year so that whenever he is released, he can resume his studies. We are not going to forget this incident," Sato said.
* Facts of the claim
On April 1, 1996 Tohti Tunyaz started his study at the Graduate School of Humanities (doctoral course) of the University of Tokyo under the supervision of Professor Sato Tsugitaka. His area of specialization is the history of Chinese policy toward minority peoples during the 19th and 20th centuries. He is a scholar utilizing cientific methodology to study this subject based not on any ideology, but based on the historical facts.
On February 6, 1998 when Tohti Tunyaz visited Urmuchi for collecting the source materials for his study, he was arrested and prosecuted for the crimes of instigating national disunity and leaking confidential documents.
On March 10, 1999, the Low Court at Urmuchi sentenced the victim to eleven years' penal servitude and two years' deprivation of his citizenship. Tohti immediately appealed the decision to the High Court at Urmuchi, which dismissed the case in March 2000.
* Views against the Court Decision
The court decision was based on the supposition that the victim intended to publish a book in Japanese for the purpose of instigating national disunity, and made copies confidential documents at Urmuchi in order to leak them to foreigners. However, according to the decision we read at Urmuchi in August 1999, neither the book nor its manuscript was submitted to the court as a proof. As far as we know, the victim wrote no such book in Japan. As to leaking confidential documents, the victim received copies from a librarian after he had been given permission from the authorities to do so. Furthermore, the foreigner who was alleged to have received the documents was never identified at the trial. Consequently, we have been forced to conclude that the decision was based on a misrepresentation of the facts concerning Tohti's scholarly activities. His real and only intention was to collect source materials in order to complete his doctoral thesis dealing with the modern history of the Uygur people.
* Steps taken on behalf of Tohti Tunyaz
- June 26, 1998
Letter sent to the ambassador of the Chinese Embassy inquiring about his present situation under the name of his academic supervisor, Professor Sato Tsugitaka.
- April 7, 1999
Letter sent to the presiding judge of the High Court at Urmuchi appealing that Tohti is a sincere student who has worked hard in his academic pursuits.
- July 21, 1999
Letter sent to the ambassador of the Chinese Embassy requesting the return of Tohti to his studies under the name of the Dean of the Faculty of Letters, The University of Tokyo.
- August 1-6, 1999
Professor Sato and his colleague, Professor Kishimoto Mio, visited Urmuchi in order to see him. The meeting was not permitted, but they were able to inform the authorities anxiety about Tohti taken by the University of Tokyo's deep concern and consternation over the Tohti Tunyazs case.
- August 16, 1999
Letter sent to the ambassador of the Chinese Embassy and the presiding judge of the High Court at Urmuchi under the names of about 40 professors affiliated with the University of Tokyo.
- August 19, 1999
Official letter addressed to the ambassador of the Chinese Embassy requesting the earliest return of Tohti to his studies in Japan under the name of President of the University of Tokyo.
- January 14, 2000
Letter addressed under the names of his academic supervisors to the presiding judge of the High Court at Urmuchi requesting that all the facts misrepresented at the trial be stricken from the record.
- September,2001
The University of Tokyo changed school regulations to extend his years leave of absence.
- August, 2002
Professor Kishimoto and Yamaguchi visited Urmuchi together with his son, who could see his father behind bars.