In addition, he criticized Xinjiang Uyghur Governor Nur Bekri for "always stress[ing] the stability and security of Xinjiang" instead of "car[ing] about Uyghurs", calling for a stricter interpretation of China's 1984 Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law. That same month, Tohti was detained by authorities, accused of separatism, and interrogated. After being jailed for life in September 2014 Wang Lixiong wrote in a Twitter message that China had created in Ilham Tohti "a Uighur Mandela". The Chinese News Agency Xinhua dismissed the comparison writing that "[w]hile Mandela preached reconciliation, Ilham Tohti preaches hatred and killing." On July 5, 2009 ethnic rioting took place between Uyghurs and Han in Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang. The government reported that more than 150 people, mostly Han Chinese, were killed during the clashes. On July 6 "Uighur Online" was cited in a speech by Governor Bekri as a catalyst for the violence because it had helped instigate the rioting by spreading rumors. On July 8, 2009, Radio Free Asia reported that Tohti's whereabouts were unknown after he had been summoned from his home in Beijing. The Chinese dissident Wang Lixiong and his Tibetan activist wife Woeser started an on-line petition calling for Tohti's release, which was signed by other dissidents including Ran Yunfei. PEN American Center, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders also issued appeals or statements of concern. Tohti was released from detention on August 23, along with two other Chinese dissidents, Xu Zhiyong and Zhuang Lu, after pressure on Beijing from the administration of American President Barack Obama. Tohti said that during his detention, he was confined to his home and a hotel with several police officers who did not treat him inhumanely. He stated that after his release, they warned him against criticism of the government's handling of riots, and prevented him and his family from leaving Beijing. Chinese authorities arrested and detained Tohti again in January 2014, and removed computers from his home. He was held at a detention center thousands of miles from Beijing in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. On April 1, 2014, Tohti was awarded the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, an American human rights award given to writers anywhere in the world who fight for freedom of expression.