Kazakh Researcher Reportedly Jailed in Xinjiang for “Misinterpreting” Abay

Journalist and human rights activist Serikzhan Bilash has shared more details about the criminal case, Orda.kz reports, citing Bitter Winter.

According to unconfirmed reports, Xinjiang-based researcher Adil Semeykhanuly was held in custody for several months after his detention in January 2024. He was later transferred to house arrest due to a lack of evidence. Based on information Bilash provided to the publication, nearly a year and a half later, in August 2025, the scholar was convicted on charges of “negative dissemination of Abay’s teachings” and “forming a separate public opinion.”

It is also claimed that several other Kazakh intellectuals involved in research and translation work were persecuted alongside him. According to the reported information, Murat I. was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison, Onyalgan M. to seven years, and Janibek D. to 7.5 years. No information is available about the sentence of Tegis Z.

It should be noted that no records confirming these sentences were found in Chinese public sources. However, the authors of the publication attribute this to the opacity of politically sensitive cases in Xinjiang.

A review of Chinese public court databases, government bulletins and legal notices did not reveal any official records confirming the arrests or sentences of Semeykhanuly and four other intellectuals. The lack of public documentation is a common phenomenon in politically sensitive cases in Xinjiang, where trials remain opaque.the Bitter Winter article says. 

According to the foreign publication, the authors have already sent official inquiries about the case to the Xinjiang authorities and the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan.

Earlier, Orda.kz reported that in 2023, the organizers of the Zhana Shekara film festival, dedicated to the culture of East Turkestan and the issue of camps in Xinjiang, were forced to move the event online. According to them, the venue refused to host the festival after pressure from the KNB. At the time, the organizers said the topic of camps and repression against Turkic peoples in China remained effectively taboo not only in Xinjiang itself, but also in Kazakhstan.

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