Ablajan Awut Ayup

Ablajan Awut Ayup (, ; born 11 November 1984) is a singer, songwriter and dancer who wrote over 400 songs and was known for promoting Uyghur culture and identity as well as singing bilingual songs, in both Chinese and Uyghur.

In 2018, Radio Free Asia reported that Ablajan had been detained by police in Guma (Pishan) County. His brother reported that Ablajan had been sent to one of the Xinjiang internment camps.

Early life Ablajan was born as one of five children to a peasant family in Sanju near Guma, Pishan County. After attending a Uyghur-language school and finishing middle school in 1998, he went to a pedagogical school in Turpan on a stipend grant, studying painting for three years. He decided to become a musician at age 14, after seeing Michael Jackson on television.

Between 2001 and 2006, Ablajan was employed as an arts and music teacher in his hometown, also working as a wedding singer. In September 2006, he enrolled at Xinjiang Arts Institute, graduating with a degree in musicology in July 2008. He also performed children's songs. Rui Wenbin, Ablajan's manager and a former employee of Xinjiang's culture ministry described him as a potential "messenger of peace".

Arrest and imprisonment Radio Free Asia reported that in February 2018, Ablajan was detained and interrogated by the Sanju branch of Guma police. He was released, but arrested on 15 February. His disappearance occurred amidst a number of other arrests and disappearancs of those known to promote the Uyghur identity and Uyghur culture, as well as wider Turkic culture as a whole. Radio Free Asia cited a social media post by one of Ablajan's friends, claiming he had been previously detained following a trip to Malaysia, due to concerns over Islamist indoctrination abroad. There was further speculation whether Ablajan's arrest was related to his involvement in a "charity that benefited Uyghurs" or his outspoken identity as an Uyghur through his music.