October 14, 2026
Musajan Ehmet, a Uyghur businessman and former television personality from Ghulja (Yining) in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, died in early September 2026 at a prison in Kuytun, according to the Xinjiang Victims Database’s September 2026 obituary, published September 30. According to the Xinjiang Victims Database obituary, Radio Free Asia confirmed the news of his death. He was 56.
According to the obituary, Ehmet — born in 1970 — was a businessman from Ghulja City’s Kepekyuzi Township who was widely known for his early television work as an apprentice of the late prankster Hisam Qurban and as a frequent presenter on radio and television programs.
The obituary reports that Ehmet was detained in 2017, likely in connection with Egypt — one of the “26 sensitive countries” — after sending his son to study there and visiting him, and for having one child above the official birth quota. His son later told Radio Free Asia that the family had heard Ehmet was detained in September 2017 for having more than three children and for going abroad, sentenced to 20 years in prison, and held in a prison in Kuytun. The Xinjiang Victims Database also cites a suspicion that he was targeted simply for being an influential figure in Uyghur society.
On September 7, 2026, it was reported that he had recently died at the Kuytun prison. A prayer gathering was held for him on September 8 at a mosque in Istanbul’s Sefaköy neighborhood.
No Chinese government statement on his detention, sentence, or death has been publicly located.
The Free China Movement calls on the Chinese authorities to disclose the circumstances of Musajan Ehmet’s death in custody, to release full records of his detention and sentencing, and to end the systematic persecution of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Related coverage: CECC “Faces of Repression” hearing; Human Rights Watch call for dedicated UN discussion on Xinjiang
Sources
- Xinjiang Victims Database blog, “Obituaries for September 2026: Abduqeyyum Hoja (85), Musajan Ehmet (56), Shi Tingfu (67)” (September 30, 2026): https://blog.shahit.biz/2026/09/30/obituaries-for-september-2026-abduqeyyum-hoja-85-musajan-ehmet-56-shi-tingfu-67/
- Radio Free Asia interview with Ehmet’s son (reported via Enab Baladi/MSA-IT mirror): https://en.msa-it.org/%e2%80%98Individual-Lives-Are-The-Price-of-The-Ethnocide%e2%80%99-Son-of-Imprisoned-Uyghur-Comedian/
The Free China Movement has not independently verified the events described; the death report rests on the Xinjiang Victims Database, which cites Radio Free Asia’s confirmation.
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