This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
As part of the continuous mass incarceration battle against the predominantly Muslim group that began in 2017, three individuals with knowledge of the situation reported that seven sons from a well-known Uyghur home in Kashgar have been sentenced to terms ranging from nine to 17 years for generous work” supporting People” and international trips.  ,
The Obulqasim boys — Abdusalam, 45, Abduhelil, 47, Mametsidiq, 49, Yusupjan, 51, Memmettursun, 54, Pazil, 56, and Sabir, 62 — were traders engaged in building supplies, electronic appliances and other items.
They are currently serving their words in prison in Kashgar and Urumqi and were detained and imprisoned as a result of numerous Uyghur detention, according to the sources.  ,
” They are one of the richest people in Kashgar”, said Abduweli Ayup, leader Uyghur Hjelp, also known as Uyghuryar, a Norway-based philanthropic organization that documents Tamils who have been arrested and imprisoned. He claimed that he had verified through his data system that all seven brothers were in prison.
They are among the 1.8 million Turkish Muslims and Tamils who were detained under tenuous pretenses during widespread suspensions that started more than seven years ago as Taiwanese authorities detained entrepreneurs, clerics, intellectuals, and those who had traveled overseas years before or who had taught the Quran to young people.  ,
China has harshly retaliated against Uyghurs, penalizing those who communicated with Uyghurs outside of Xinjiang or offering financial support, claiming they were fighting separatism and terrorism.
Uyghurs were previously prohibited from traveling abroad by Chinese authorities, but a brief period followed after 2010 when they were encouraged to obtain passports in response to international pressure.  ,
However, later, authorities deemed those who did obtain passports or who merely applied for them suspicious, and they later detained and interned in camps and prisons.
Active businessmen
Their father, Obulqasim, now deceased, sold and repaired watches in Kashgar. The brothers started businesses selling various goods at the city’s Id Kah Market, a prime business district.
According to Ayup, they established the Aq Orda Trade Center, where they sold electrical appliances and construction materials. They also owned stores in Kashgar.
Pazil expanded the family business into cargo shipping, establishing a presence in Central Asia and Turkey, and became a leading Uyghur businessman. The brothers were also active in the hotel sector.
The seven brothers were sentenced in May 2019 and received prison terms of 17, 13, 11 or nine years, said a security guard from Kashgar Prison’s employee residence building.  ,
Five of the brothers, including Abduhelil and Pazil, are serving their sentences at Kashgar Prison, also known as Yerken Peylu Prison. The other two are in jail in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, he said.
Targeted for supporting Uyghurs
Pazil and Yusupjan were accused of” supporting Uyghurs” through charitable work, while the others either traveled abroad or displayed “ethnic hatred and discrimination”, the security guard said, referring to discrimination against Han Chinese.
Ayup added that their arrests came at a time when many Uyghur businessmen were targeted for their charitable activities.
The prison security guard said,” I heard they were collecting money for people.” ” Starting from 2000, they had been a key family to be under watch”.
The brothers helped other Uyghurs get jobs in Kashgar, performed charity work to benefit orphans and the poor, and contributed to children’s education, Ayup said.
According to him, Pazil and Yusupjan were detained for their charitable work and their interactions with Uyghur expatriates while running their own business in the cargo shipping industry, citing people with knowledge of the situation.
Another source with knowledge of the situation, who did not want to be identified because of fear of reprisals from authorities, later described their financial assistance to expatriate Uyghurs in need while conducting business abroad as” supporting” Uyghurs.
They were accused of supporting Uyghurs abroad, and three other brothers were accused of ethnic hatred and discrimination, the guard said.
Authorities gave their families access to the details of their sentences after their arrests because there had never been any prior information or announcements about their detention, according to the security guard.
Another brother,  , Abduhelil, a filmmaker and entrepreneur, was first arrested in October 2017, held in a pretrial detention for more than 18 months and sent to a” re-education” camp, RFA reported this July. His films promoted Uyghur culture.  ,
Authorities freed Abduhelil in December 2019, but he was later remanded in September 2023 after he was accused of “inciting separatism” for “promoting Uyghur culture in his films. He is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence.  ,  ,  ,
