Case History
On November 10, 1998, Chinese authorities charged Tunyaz with “stealing state secrets for foreign persons” and “inciting national disunity,” the latter charge allegedly for publishing a book in Japan in 1998 entitled The Inside Story of the Silk Road. According to the Chinese government the book advocates ethnic separation; scholars in Japan, however, insist no such book exists. He was convicted by the Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court on March 10, 1999, and following an appeal, was sentenced by China’s Supreme Court on February 15, 2000, to 11 years in prison with an additional two years’ deprivation of political rights.
In December 2001, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an official opinion declaring Mr. Tunyaz to be arbitrarily detained. Tohti Tunyaz is also an Honorary Member of the Canadian, Catalan, English, Japanese, Lichtenstein, and Perth PEN Centers. In 2002, he was the recipient of a PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
Tohti Tunyaz was released in February 2009, upon completion of his sentence. Though his wife requested that he be allowed to travel to Japan for medical care, Chinese authorities reportedly offered them both jobs to encourage them to remain in the country.
In May 2015 Tunyaz dies, possibly of a heart attack.