On 4 June 2009, the Swedish Security Police (Säpo) took into custody a 61-year-old Uyghur man, a former refugee and now Swedish citizen, on charges of espionage. Now, that man’s identity has finally been revealed. Radio Free Asia reports that the suspected spy is Babur Mexsut (Mäxsut), a figure of some prominence in the international Uyghur independence movement.

Babur Mexsut is known to the Swedish and world Uyghur community as a loyal member of the movement. He was arrested, in fact, shortly after returning from a meeting of the World Uyghur Congress (Dunya Uyghur Quriltiyi) in Washington, DC, where he was a guest. Babur Mexsut appears in photographs that show him at rallies holding the blue-and-white East Turkestani flag. Radio Free Asia, which has based its research on rumors from the Uyghur community and interviews with some of its members, that Babur Mexsut is a long-time friend of several prominent members of the Congress. Dilshat Rishit, a frequent spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress who traveled with Babur to Washington, DC, described him as