Ryzuangul Toqbai
Name: Ryzuangul Toqbai
Ryzuangul Toqbai is a young woman in her 30’s (36) from a town called Kunes in the Xinjiang region. Ryzuangul is married with 3 children and was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 (acknowledging possible poor health).
She was detained on November 17, 2022, for breaching lockdown rules. She went to a shop to buy some food for her kids. Later policemen in the village, came to her house, handcuffed her, and arrested her. She was first given a year of prison term and later extended to 5 years. The court hearing was held online and her sentence was informed through a mobile phone.
Her husband pays 1000 RMB/ ~140 USD a month for her expenditure in prison. When her husband and 3 children (8, 13, and 14 years old) visited her in prison, they saw that her hair was white and had become very skinny (malnutrition, physical/mental stress, etc.).
Ryzuangul’s situation shows the severity of the extended zero COVID policy that was implemented in recent years. The circumstances surrounding the extension of her detainment were not found. Most importantly, her testimony points to the financial cost that detention brings to families since this is a portion we don’t hear of much. Where do these expenditures go, and what does it cover? How is it enforced on the families and those imprisoned? Why were they implemented in the first place?
- Source 1: https://shahit.biz/eng/61680/
- Source 2: https://youtu.be/2wm4OIEWMNk?si=MBiK35Ys7rQr2d0t