South Korea has stopped a leading Uighur rights activist from entering the country to attend a democracy forum coorganized by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and is detaining him at Incheon International Airport, organizers said yesterday.
Dolkun Isa, secretary-general of the Munich, Germany-based World Uyghur Congress, has been held at Incheon airport since Tuesday night, the World Forum for Democratization in Asia said.
Bo Tedards of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, an organizer of the three-day event that began in Seoul on Wednesday, said he suspected Chinese pressure prompted the ban on Isa.
“I don’t know the details legally but the reason why they don’t allow him in is because there is pressure from China,” Tedards told AFP.
South Korean immigration authorities were holding Isa despite his wish to return home to Germany, Tedards said.
“We are angry about it. Right now we are concerned about him because we don’t understand why they want to keep him here,” Tedards said. “We can’t think of any good reasons. We can only think of bad reasons.”
Beijing claims Isa is a terrorist and has repeatedly sought his extradition from other countries. Interpol issued a Red Notice some years ago informing member countries that China seeks his extradition. Germany, which granted Isa political asylum in 1997 and citizenship in 2006, has investigated China’s allegations and declined to act on them.
A South Korean immigration officer said Isa’s name was on a blacklist, and that he would be deported to Dubai. China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman denied any knowledge of the case.
China reacted angrily when Japan in July allowed World Uyghur Congress president Rebiya Kadeer to visit Tokyo for a private forum.
It also tried to have a documentary about her life withdrawn from a film festival in the Australian city of Melbourne.
Meanwhile, four Uighur men were sentenced to between eight and 15 years in prison for stabbing a Han Chinese woman in the neck with a syringe in the capital of the ethnically divided Xinjiang region in China’s northwest.
Authorities initially blamed the needle attacks on terrorists, however, the four confirmed cases appear to be petty crimes.
A Uighur man and woman were jailed for 10 years and seven years for using a syringe to rob a taxi driver of 710 yuan (US$103) and a 19-year-old Uighur got 15 years after he jabbed a woman in the buttock with a pin. A drug addict who fought off arresting officers with a heroin-filled syringe awaits trial.
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
ANGER: Unrest worsened after a taxi driver was killed by a police vehicle on Thursday, as protesters set alight government buildings across the nation Protests worsened overnight across major cities of Indonesia, far beyond the capital, Jakarta, as demonstrators defied Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s call for calm. The most serious unrest was seen in the eastern city of Makassar, while protests also unfolded in Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta. By yesterday morning, crowds had dispersed in Jakarta. Troops patrolled the streets with tactical vehicles and helped civilians clear trash, although smoke was still rising in various protest sites. Three people died and five were injured in Makassar when protesters set fire to the regional parliament building during a plenary session on Friday evening, according to
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
CRACKDOWN: The Indonesian president vowed to clamp down on ‘treason and terrorism,’ while acceding to some protest demands to revoke lawmaker benefits Protests in Indonesia over rising living costs and inequality intensified overnight, prompting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to cancel a planned trip to China, while demonstrators reportedly targeted the homes of the finance minister and several lawmakers. Rioters entered Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s residence near Jakarta early yesterday, but were repelled by armed forces personnel, Kompas reported. Items were taken from the homes of lawmaker Ahmad Sahroni and two others, according to Detik.com. The reports of looting could not be independently verified, and the finance ministry has not responded to requests for comment. The protests were sparked by outrage over
RSS