A prominent activist campaigning for the release of ethnic Kazakhs caught in a sweeping crackdown on Muslims in China has been arrested in the Kazakh city of Almaty, his wife and a lawyer said Sunday.
Leila Adilzhan told The Associated Press by phone that her husband, Serikzhan Bilash, head of the advocacy group Atajurt, called her Sunday morning from a policeman's phone saying he had been arrested and had been taken to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
"When he called me I was so shocked, I couldn't say a single word," Adilzhan said.
"I'm afraid our government will give him to China."
Aiman Umarova, a lawyer advising Atajurt, said she was on her way to Astana to represent Bilash in court and called the case "politically motivated."
"Our government doesn't want to spoil relations between Kazakhstan and China."