Uighur torchbearer for 2008 Summer Olympics in jail to serve a 14-year sentence - report

A Uighur man who carried the torch for the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 is currently in prison serving a 14-year sentence, according to a media report.

Adil Abdurehim is accused of watching "counter-revolutionary videos," US broadcaster Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Saturday, citing local police sources.

The once-loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party is said to have been in prison for five years.

As an employee of the Culture and Sports Bureau of Saybagh district in Ürümqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, Adil was selected to carry the 2008 Olympic flame through his district, RFA reported.

The news follows the appearance of Uighur cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang at the opening of the Beijing Winter Games, where she lit the Olympic flame together with Nordic combined skier Zhao Jiawen.

Her involvement drew criticism that the Chinese leadership was putting on a political show to reject international accusations of oppression of the Muslim minority.

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim Uighurs have been put into re-education camps in Xinjiang, according to human rights activists, who have decried reports of torture, abuse and ideological indoctrination.