Release International

Uyghur house church leader Wusiman Yiming has been released after serving two years' 're-education through labour' at a prison camp in Xinjiang province.

Wusiman (also known as Osman Imin) began his sentence in November 2007 after being convicted of 'illegal proselytising' and 'leaking state secrets' (Prayer Alert, April 29, 2008).

In fact, Wusiman's ordeal began in 2004 when he was arrested and held at a detention centre in Hotan, southern Xinjiang. There, he was reportedly beaten and chained to a metal bed, until he was released on bail. He was placed under house arrest in June 2007 and taken back into custody five months later.

Wusiman spent the past two years at a labour camp outside Kashgar, where he was forced to work up to 15 hours a day. He was finally released on November 18.
Chinese officials have recently stepped up their persecution of ethnic minority Uyghur Christians in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, north-west China. Several Uyghur Christians have recently been accused of having separatist sympathies – but it appears that the authorities' real focus is a clampdown on their religious activities.
Another Uyghur house church leader, Alimjan Yimit, remains in jail, almost two years after he was detained on charges of 'inciting secession' and 'leaking state secrets' (Prayer Alert, February 19, 2008). Officials accused Alimjan of using the foreign-owned business he worked for as a cover for 'preaching Christianity' – and closed it down in September 2007. Alimjan was detained in January 2008 and formally arrested the next month.

(Sources: BBC, Compass Direct)

• Pray for Wusiman, his wife Nurgul and their daughters as they are reunited.
• Pray for the release of Alimjan Yimit, and ask God to be with him and his family.

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