Merdan Ghapar, 31, a member of the Uighur Muslim Chinese minority, was a successful model until he was arrested. Stuck in a cell with 60 prisoners, his cell phone was mistakenly returned to him among his belongings and he filmed and described the abuse and torture in Xinjiang for a few days
In January, Merdan Ghapar, a successful model on the successful e-commerce platform Taobao, was arrested and taken to Xinjiang without charge, after serving a sentence of more than a year for drug possession (which he has always contested).
Sent to a cell with another 50 to 60 prisoners, Merdan sent reports of the horror he saw in jail in Xinjiang via the cell phone that was returned to him by mistake, among other goods. Abuses and tortures by Chinese prison guards against Uighur Muslim minority prisoners, to which he also belongs, and which he witnessed as a direct witness.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, nothing has been known about Merdan Ghapar since March. For five months without writing or sending anything and without knowing whether he is alive or dead. His cell phone was mistakenly returned to him among other belongings when he had to be taken to the hospital because of the flu.
For days Merdan Ghapar sent reports and videos of what he saw. Namely, hooded teenagers to be beaten with violence and the widespread use by Uighur prisoners of the “four-piece suit”. “This so-called four-piece suit was a black plastic bag on the head, hand and foot cuffs and a steel chain between the handcuffs,” he described in one of his reports.
