Abliz Poskam, Voice of Uyghur
May 15, 2021
Chinese authorities had sentenced Hemra Qiyum, 36, a young stand-up comedian for 9 years for visiting Turkey in 2014, according to Voice of Uyghur investigation.
Hemra Qiyum was born in Geme, Jililyuzi, Ghulja in 1985 and grown up in a cultural environment that the locals consider the ChaqChaqchi (stand-up comedians ) as representative of Uyghur public art, and most young people see the comedians as stars in public events. His sharp, natural jokes and relatively open style of the presentation got recognition and respect from a broad audience.
According to the information we have obtained from the region, Chinese authorities charged Hemra with “organizing, scheming and acting to subvert the political power of the State and overthrow the socialist system” just because of his business trip to Turkey in 2014.
Alim, an Uyghur American based in VA, told Voice of Uyghur that he also heard that Mr.Hemra was imprisoned in 2018.
Before the arrest, Hemra was one of the prominent Uyghur comedies who had shown up in multiples series of Chaqchaqchilar Chayhanisi (the teahouse of comedians ) in state media XjTV.
According to multiple sources of media news, testimonies, Uyghur intellectuals, Uyghur language teachers, Uyghur artists heavily targeted by Chinese authorities as a measure of wiping out Uyghur identity and culture.
