Moroccan authorities have arrested a Uighur in exile based on a Chinese terrorism warrant distributed by Interpol, according to information from Moroccan police and a rights group that tracks people detained by China.
Rights advocates fear that Idris Hasan — or Yidiresi Aishan, a Romanization of the name on his Chinese passport — is to be extradited to China, saying that the arrest is politically driven and part of a broader Chinese campaign to hunt down perceived dissidents outside its borders.
A Chinese citizen was arrested after landing at Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca on Tuesday last week after arriving from Istanbul, Turkey, the Moroccan General Directorate for National Security said on Tuesday.
Photo: Reuters
He “was the subject of a red notice issued by Interpol due to his suspected belonging to an organization on the lists of terrorist organizations,” the directorate said.
The red notice — the equivalent of being put on Interpol’s most-wanted list — was issued at the request of China, which is seeking his extradition, the directorate said.
Moroccan authorities notified Interpol and the Chinese authorities about the arrest, and the Chinese citizen was referred to prosecutors pending the extradition procedure, it said.
Moroccan police did not publicly name the arrested man, but the non-governmental organization Safeguard Defenders identified him as Aishan — the group specializes in cases of people detained by China.
Aishan, a 33-year-old computer engineer and father of three, has been based in Turkey since 2012, where he worked as a Web designer and Uighur advocate, and has residency papers, his friend and colleague Abduweli Ayup said.
Aishan worked on a Uighur diaspora online newspaper and assisted other Uighur advocates in media outreach and collecting testimonies of abuse in Xinjiang.
After repeated arrests in Turkey, Aishan left Istanbul for Casablanca on Monday last week, Ayup said.
On Saturday, Aishan called his wife to say that he was being deported, said Ayup, who is in touch with Aishan’s family.
Interpol and the Chinese embassy in Morocco did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the arrest. The exact charges against him are unclear.
Morocco ratified an extradition treaty with China in 2017, among several such treaties that China has made over the past few years.
China has described its sweeping lockup of 1 million or more Uighurs and other largely Muslim minorities as a “war against terror,” after knifings and bombings by a small number of extremist Uighurs native to Xinjiang.
Researchers have said that many innocent people have been detained for going abroad or attending religious gatherings, among other reasons.
Safeguard Defenders has appealed to the Moroccan ambassadors in Washington and Brussels not to extradite Aishan.
IMMIGRATION REFORM: The legislative amendments aim to protect the rights of families to reunify, and to attract skilled professionals to stay and work in Taiwan Foreigners who are highly skilled professionals, top-prize winners in professional disciplines, investment immigration applicants or have made special contributions to Taiwan can soon apply for permanent residency on behalf of their spouses and minor or disabled children after the legislature approved amendments to the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法). The amendments, which were proposed by the Ministry of the Interior and approved by the Executive Yuan on Jan. 12, aim to attract foreign talent to Taiwan and encourage them to stay. They would take effect once they are signed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). The amendments involved changing 63 articles, making it the biggest
FIRST STEP: Business groups in Taiwan welcomed the deal, which does not include tariff reductions at this stage, as they called for the elimination of double taxation Taiwan and the US yesterday signed an initial agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade. The agreement was signed yesterday morning by Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Managing Director Ingrid Larson in Washington, the Office of Trade Negotiations in Taipei said. The ceremony was witnessed by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) and Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi. Taiwan and the US started talks under the initiative in August last year, after Taipei was left out of the Washington-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. “The deal that will be signed tonight is not only very historic,
Beijing yesterday blamed US “provocation” for an incident last week in which a Chinese plane crossed in front of a US surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea. The incident came at a time of frayed ties between Washington and Beijing over issues including Taiwan and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the US this year. “The United States’ long-term and frequent sending of ships and planes to conduct close surveillance on China seriously harms China’s national sovereignty and security,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning (毛寧) said when asked about the latest incident. “This
‘GLOBAL NETWORK’: The only way to deter a Chinese invasion is for the international community to unite in its resolve, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee (李淳) yesterday urged democratic nations around the world to not let Beijing dictate the definition of their “one China” policies, saying that they should increase cooperation with Taiwan to build a resilient democratic network. Lee made the remarks during his speech, titled “Ukraine and Taiwan: Why Global Unity Matters,” at the annual Bratislava Forum in Slovakia. “People in Taiwan have been paying close attention to the situation in Ukraine and admire Ukrainians for defending their homeland. They are [also] fighting for Taiwan and democratic countries around the world,” Lee told forum participants. “The international
RSS