<p>Ilham Tohti's daughter Jewher Ilham accepted the 2019 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Wednesday on behalf of her jailed father.
</p><p>Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur scholar fighting for the rights of China’s Muslim Uyghur minority, has been in jail since 2014 on separatism-related charges. Presenting the award, Parlimaent President David Sassoli said: “Ilham Tohti, with his activism, managed to give a voice to the Uyghurs. [...] He has been working for 20 years to promote dialogue and mutual understanding between them and other Chinese people.
</p><p>"Today should be a moment of joy, to celebrate freedom of speech. Instead, it is a day of sadness. Once again, this chair is empty, because in the world we are living, exercising our freedom of thought does not always mean being free."
</p><p>Read more: &lt;a href="<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/priorities/sakharov-prize-2019/20191213STO69021/sakharov-prize-daughter-of-2019-winner-ilham-tohti-receives-prize-on-his-behalf">https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/priorities/sakharov-prize-2019/20191213STO69021/sakharov-prize-daughter-of-2019-winner-ilham-tohti-receives-prize-on-his-behalf</a>" rel="noreferrer nofollow"&gt;www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/priorities/sakha...&lt;/a&gt;
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<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/european_parliament/49238839806/">Sakharov Prize: daughter of 2019 laureate Ilham Tohti receives prize on his behalf</a>