Ali was a pharmacist and a businessman from Aksu. He was arrested, along with his wife Sitinisahen Gupur, on 1 April 2017. Ali’s daughter – who now lives in Turkey – found out about their arrest a few days later, through a family member in Xinjiang, while in Egypt studying with her sister.
According to Ali’s daughter, Ali was arrested once before in the beginning of 2017, but released after a couple of months. She heard from her father once after that release, he was at home. She added: “I could tell from his voice that there was something wrong. I had the feeling that he wanted to say something to us, but he couldn’t. He was worried about us.”
Through family friends, Ali’s daughter later learnt that Ali has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. It is unclear whether Ali had a trial or access to a lawyer of his choice. Ali’s daughter believes that her father is serving his sentence in a prison in Korla.
The official reasons for the imprisonment are unknown, but Ali’s daughter believes that her father is being punished because she and her sister studied in Egypt, and he travelled there to visit them.