(WiPC/IFEX) – The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN protests the detention of Uighur writer Nurmuhemmet Yasin and editor Korash Huseyin for the publication of the former’s short story “Wild Pigeon” (“Yawa Kepter”). Nurmuhemmet Yasin is serving a ten-year prison sentence for “inciting separatism” in the story, while Korash Huseyin is serving a three-year […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN protests the detention of Uighur writer Nurmuhemmet Yasin and editor Korash Huseyin for the publication of the former’s short story “Wild Pigeon” (“Yawa Kepter”). Nurmuhemmet Yasin is serving a ten-year prison sentence for “inciting separatism” in the story, while Korash Huseyin is serving a three-year sentence for publishing it in his literary magazine, “Kashgar Literature Journal”. International PEN considers both men to be detained in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
According to PEN’s information, Nurmuhemmet Yasin was arrested in Kashgar on 29 November 2004, when authorities also confiscated his personal computer containing an estimated 1,600 poems, commentaries, stories, and one unfinished novel. PEN first learned of this case in September 2005. After a closed trial in February 2005 at which he was not permitted a lawyer, the writer was sentenced by the Maralbesh Country court to 10 years in prison for “inciting Uighur separatism”. The charge is believed to be linked to his writing of “Wild Pigeon”. His sentence was upheld on appeal by the Kashgar Intermediate Court. On 19 May 2005, he was transferred to Urumchi No. 1 Jail, where he remains detained. He has been permitted no visitors since his arrest.
Nurmuhemmet Yasin first published “Wild Pigeon” in the bi-monthly Uighur-language “Kashgar Literature Journal”, issue No. 5, November 2004. According to Radio Free Asia’s Uighur service, the story comprises the fictional first-person narrative of a young pigeon – the son of a pigeon king – that is trapped and caged by humans when he ventures out to search for a new home for his flock. In the end, he commits suicide by swallowing a poisonous strawberry rather than sacrificing his freedom, as his own father committed suicide under similar conditions years earlier. “The poisons from the strawberry flow through me,” the unnamed pigeon remarks to himself at the end. “Now, finally, I can die freely. I feel as if my soul is on fire-soaring and free.”
Nurmuhemmet Yasin’s story was widely circulated and recommended for one of the biggest Uighur literary websites in the Uighur Autonomous Region for outstanding literary award. It also attracted the attention of the Chinese authorities, who apparently consider the fable to be a tacit criticism of their government in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
Nurmuhemmet Yasin, aged 31, is an award-winning and prolific freelance writer. He has published many highly-acclaimed literary works and prose poems in recent years, including the poetry collections “First Love”, “Crying from the Heart”, and “Come on Children”. He is said to be a mature writer with an established literary reputation among Uighur readers. He is married with two young sons.
“Wild Pigeon” was translated from the Uighur into English and Chinese by Dolkun Kamberi, director of Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) Uighur service. It has been adapted for broadcast by RFA’s Uighur service, edited in English by Sarah Jackson-Han, and produced for the English Web by Luisetta Mudie. The English translation is available online in two parts as follows: http://www.rfa.org/english/uyghur/2005/06/27/wild_pigeon/ http://www.rfa.org/english/uyghur/2005/06/27/wild_pigeon2/
PEN is seeking further details about the date of Korash Huseyin’s arrest and trial and the charges against him. He is 35 and is married with three children.
