He helped people discover new stories. Now his family struggles to discover what has happened to him. Dilshat Oralbai, a Kazakh journalist and translator from Xinjiang, historically known as East Turkistan, Uyghur region , was detained in 2018 after returning from Kazakhstan. His sister said he received twenty-five years in prison without a court hearing. China later told a United Nations working group that his sentence was fifteen years. According to The China Project, UN experts found his detention arbitrary and called for his release. Reports of poor health and mistreatment deepen concern. For his family, the question is painfully simple: why is a man who spent his life sharing knowledge still behind bars?
A Cultural Voice in the Uyghur Region
Oralbai built his career in Xinjiang, the region many Uyghurs and other exiles call East Turkistan. He is Kazakh; The China Project reported that his father was Kazakh and his mother Uyghur. His story belongs to the wider crisis affecting Turkic Muslim communities under Chinese rule.
According to Global Voices, he worked as a journalist and editor after graduating in 1985. He also joined the Chinese Communist Party. Years of professional service, however, did not protect him from detention.
His Achievements Reached Beyond the Newsroom
Global Voices credited Oralbai with translating fifteen books and more than thirty stories from Chinese into Kazakh. It also reported that he received more than a dozen awards for scholarly and journalistic work, although it did not name them.
Bitter Winter reported that his translations included television series and Jules Verne’s In Search of the Castaways. Through this work, he helped Kazakh-speaking audiences enjoy stories they might otherwise never encounter.
These achievements matter because imprisonment can reduce a person to a sentence and a photograph. Oralbai was a working intellectual whose skills served readers, viewers and his community.
A Return Home Followed by Detention
Oralbai moved to Kazakhstan and established a window-making business. After returning to Xinjiang, he lost the freedom to travel: accounts describe authorities taking his documents before his detention in 2018. Details of the timeline differ between sources.
His sister, Gulaisha, told The China Project that police said his mind had been “poisoned by living with foreigners.” Relatives suspected that overseas contacts, religious practice and WhatsApp use had brought him under suspicion. These are the family’s accounts, not established reasons for conviction.
Still, they reveal a frightening reality for families: normal activities can become sources of fear when authorities refuse clear explanations.
Health Concerns and a Family’s Loss
Oralbai had undergone three surgeries before detention, according to Global Voices. Later allegations recorded in a prisoner database described exhausting work and denial of basic treatment. His present medical condition has not been independently established.
Such reports require investigation, not silence. Chinese authorities should disclose his condition and ensure proper medical care.
His sisters, Bakytgul and Bagila, were also detained. In an account published by Amnesty International, Gulaisha described searching for information about several loved ones. The punishment reaches beyond prison walls into every unanswered family conversation.
China Must Answer the Questions
China told the UN that Oralbai had been convicted of terrorism-related offences. However, The China Project reported that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found inadequate due process and called for his release and compensation.
Reporters Without Borders also included him in its 2025 appeal concerning journalists detained in China. His case remains an international concern, not merely a private family dispute.
His Story Should Not End in Silence
Oralbai spent years helping words cross borders. His family now faces barriers simply trying to learn about his life.
Beijing should release him, disclose the records surrounding his imprisonment and provide proper medical protection. Conflicting sentence lengths and unanswered questions are not signs of justice.
For young readers and writers, his legacy is a reminder that knowledge connects communities. Protecting that legacy means demanding something basic: freedom, dignity and the chance to return home.