China frees Uyghur Christian pastor after 15 years in jail

Chinese authorities have released a Uyghur Christian pastor who spent 15 years in prison accused of “inciting separatism” and “leaking state secrets to overseas organisations,” charges termed as “baseless” by rights groups, says a report.

Alimujiang Yimiti, 49, a Protestant house church pastor was reunited with his family after being released from prison in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang region, China Aid reported on March 15.

Yimiti was a Muslim before he converted to Christianity in 1995. He became a pastor for Uyghur Christians who belonged to a Protestant house church in the city of Kashgar in Xinjiang.

In 2007, Chinese security agencies started scrutinizing Uyghurs, a Muslim-majority ethnic Turkic group who make up the majority of the Xinjiang population amid a rise in violence in the region.

At that time, Christian Uyghurs who account for about two percent of the region’s estimated 26 million people, also came under pressure, reported papal charity Aid to the Church in Need.

Yimiti was first accused of using his business as a front to spread Christian ideology and was arrested on Jan. 12, 2008, for “inciting separatism” and “unlawfully providing state secrets to overseas organizations” due to a conversation he had with an American Christian friend, China Aid reported.