Parhat, who edited the popular Uighur-language website Diyarim, was one of several online forum administrators arrested after ethnic violence in Urumqi in July 2009. Parhat was sentenced to a five-year prison term in July 2010 on charges of endangering state security, according to international news reports. He has previously appeared on CPJ’s prison census as Dilixiati Paerhati, which is the pinyin transliteration of his Chinese name.
Parhat was detained and interrogated about riots in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region on July 24, 2009, but was released without charge after eight days. Agents seized him from his apartment on August 7, 2009, although the government issued no formal notice of arrest, his U.K.-based brother told Amnesty International. News reports citing his brother said Parhat was prosecuted for failing to comply with an official order to delete anti-government comments on the website.
As is the case with many Uighur prisoners, the government released few details on the case. No information on where he was being held had been disclosed in late 2014.