The unlawful detention of young academic Nebijan Habibulla continues. The main reasons for his 15-year prison sentence are believed to be his overseas education and his academic research on the Uyghur language.
After completing his studies at the University of Göttingen in Germany, Dr. Nebijan Habibulla, like many Uyghur intellectuals, faced a difficult decision: remain abroad in safety and freedom, or return to his homeland under Chinese occupation to serve his people. He ultimately chose to return. However, instead of being allowed to contribute to society through his academic work, he was stripped of his position and imprisoned.
Dr. Nebijan was born in 1983 in Lop County, Hotan Prefecture. After graduating from Hotan Education Angel High School in 2002, he briefly worked as a teacher. He completed his undergraduate degree and earned a master’s in linguistics at Xinjiang University between 2008 and 2011. In 2011, he began his PhD studies at Minzu University of China. Between 2012 and 2014, he studied at the University of Göttingen as part of a student exchange program.
In 2016, he successfully completed his PhD at Minzu University of China with a dissertation on the lexical meanings of verbs found in Old Uyghur Buddhist texts, and subsequently began working as an assistant professor at Xinjiang University in Ürümchi.
Dr. Nebijan focused on academic work and tried to remain apolitical. Within two years, he secured funding for four research projects—two national, one regional, and one at the university level. More than ten of his articles were published in reputable journals, and he received several awards for his scholarly achievements.
His academic career was cut short in February 2018, when he was detained along with several other prominent Uyghur professors under the pretext of “re-education.”
Uyghur activist and researcher Abduweli Ayup reported that Dr. Nebijan was sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to Ayup, he was a student of jailed academic Arslan Abdullah and was detained at the same time as two of Arslan’s other PhD students. In February 2018, Dr. Nebijan was summoned to the university’s security office, where he was taken away by state security agents following a brief interrogation.
An official from Xinjiang University’s security office later confirmed that he had been transferred to Xinjiang Normal University. Investigations into the case of detained Uyghur poet Abdulkadir Jalalidin previously revealed that a special detention center had been established at Xinjiang Normal University, where intellectuals from Ürümchi were held before being sent to so-called “re-education” camps.
According to information obtained and assessed by Ayup, the primary reasons for Habibulla arrest and 15-year prison sentence are believed to include his overseas education, his status as a student of Arslan Abdullah, and—most notably—his academic research on the Uyghur language and culture.
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