Ilham Tohti, an advocate for China’s Uyghur minority, who is serving a life sentence in China since 2014 on separatism-related charges, won the 2019 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

His daughter Jewher Ilham accepted the prize on his behalf, on 18 December in the European Parliament.

EU Parliament President David Sassoli, said that Tohti “has been working for 20 years to promote dialogue and mutual understanding between them and other Chinese people” and “managed to give a voice to the Uyghurs”.

“To be honest with you, I do not know where my father is. 2017 was the last time my family received word about him”, Ilham said, while using the opportunity to ask for support for her father’s cause.

“Today, there is no freedom for Uyghurs in China…not at school, not in public, not even in private homes. My father, like most Uyghurs, has been labelled a violent extremist, with a disease that needs to be cured and mind that needs to be washed”, Ilham said.

China has been facing international criticism because of its oppression on ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang region. Recently, leaked documents revealed that the mass detention camps, described by Beijing as voluntary job training centers, are instead, forced ideological re-education camps.

During the ceremony, Sassoli called for Ilham Tohti’s immediate release, as well as for the release of the “many other winners of the Sakharov Prize that are currently in prison and are being persecuted for defending human rights and fundamental freedoms”.

The prize consists of a certificate and €50,000.