Kazakh activist held after campaign against secret Muslim detention camps

Director of human rights group is likely to face charges of extremism and inciting ethnic hatred

A HIGH-PROFILE activist campaigning for the release of ethnic Kazakhs affected by China’s crackdown on Muslims has been arrested in Kazakhstan, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

Serikzhan Bilash, the director of advocacy group Atajurt, was arrested in Almaty early yesterday morning.

He was flown to Astana, the capital, and is likely to face criminal charges of extremism and inciting ethnic hatred, said Leila Adilzhan, his partner, and Aiman Umarova, his lawyer.

Ms Adilzhan said Mr Bilash had called her yesterday morning from a police officer’s mobile phone and confirmed he was being held in Astana. Mr Bilash was born in China, but moved to Kazakhstan about 15 years ago and now holds Kazakh citizenship. Ms Adilzhan said she was worried that “our government will send him to China”.

Atajurt has highlighted the plight of ethnic Kazakhs and other Muslims detained in China’s internment camps in Xinjiang, a far-western province that shares a border with Kazakhstan.

Ms Umarova said Mr Bilash’s arrest was “connected with his actions against Chinese camps, because he speaks publicly, openly, about Kazakh people who are in the camps”.

In a video posted online yesterday, Mr Bilash said he was accused of inciting ethnic hatred and was being held by police in Astana, and that he was not taken “by either the Chinese or Chinese spies”.

Photos sent by Atajurt members showed bloodstains where Mr Bilash is said to have been arrested.

Police also searched Atajurt’s offices, confiscating computers, documents and other materials, before sealing off the location in downtown Almaty.

China’s mass detention of one million Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Hui and other ethnic minorities has been a sensitive issue in oil-rich Kazakhstan, given its growing business and investment ties with neighbouring China.

State-restricted media in the Central Asian nation has largely shied away from reporting on the camps.

Mr Bilash has faced increasing harassment and pressure from Kazakh authorities for his work. On Saturday, Mr Bilash posted a video saying he feared he was in danger after four strangers had arrived at Atajurt’s offices.

Patrick Poon, a researcher for Amnesty International, said: “I’m quite worried the Kazakhstan government is taking action in order to please China.”

The Kazakh foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.