 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
China jails 19 in Xinjiang for security crimes: Uighur group
Beijing (AFP) Oct 30, 2009 China sentenced 19 people in restive Xinjiang to jail terms of three years to life for state security crimes, some in connection with deadly ethnic unrest in July, a US-based activist group said. The Uyghur American Association, in a statement emailed to AFP late Thursday, condemned the convictions of the men in the region's Yili prefecture, urging skepticism about the charges "in the absence of an open... trial". According to a report on the official China News Service on October 23, the defendants -- whose names indicated they were from the mainly Muslim Uighur minority -- were charged with "harming state security". The ringleader of the group was sentenced to life in prison for activities that included setting up a group that incited people to disobey government rule and advocating "holy war", the news report said. He had also planned to organise an "illegal protest" in Yining city after hearing of the July 5 ethnic unrest in Urumqi that left nearly 200 people dead, but abandoned his plans due to heavy security, according to the report. The other 18 men were sentenced to between three to 15 years in jail for various "separatist" crimes and intentional injury, some linked to the Urumqi violence. "It remains a distinct possibility that these men were prosecuted and convicted based on attending peaceful religious meetings and planning to engage in peaceful protest activities," said exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer. An official at the Yili prefecture branch of the Xinjiang higher people's court, who refused to be named, told AFP he could not give out any "related information". Two weeks ago, 21 defendants in the regional capital Urumqi were tried over the July 5 unrest. Twelve were given the death penalty. Those sentences were upheld on Friday. China's roughly eight million Turkic-speaking Uighurs have long complained of religious, political and cultural oppression by Chinese authorities, and tensions have simmered in Xinjiang for years. China says it faces a serious terrorist threat from Muslim separatists in Xinjiang but rights groups have accused Beijing of exaggerating the threat in order to justify very tight controls in the region. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links News From Across The Stans
Afghan strategy emerges ahead of Obama troop decisionWashington (AFP) Oct 28, 2009 US officials are settling on a new-look Afghan strategy to secure 10 major population centers, a media report said Wednesday, as President Barack Obama neared a decision on whether to hurl thousands more troops into the fray. Obama's advisers, after weeks of in-depth meetings, are coalescing around a strategy aimed at protecting about 10 top population centers in Afghanistan, The New York ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook