8 Sentenced to Death for Attacks in Western China (original) (raw)
Asia Pacific|8 Sentenced to Death for Attacks in Western China
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- Dec. 8, 2014
BEIJING — A court in western China announced Monday that it had sentenced eight people to death for two separate attacks that Chinese officials called terrorist operations, state news media reported.
The People’s Intermediate Court in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, said an additional five people were given suspended death sentences, which usually means life in prison. One person was sentenced specifically to a life term, and three others were given sentences ranging from five to 10 years.
Ethnic violence has been on the rise in Xinjiang in recent years. State news organizations have frequently reported on details of attacks carried out there by ethnic Uighurs, many of whom resent policies imposed by a government dominated by the Han, the largest ethnic group in China. Han-dominated security forces have in turn killed many Uighurs. In all, hundreds of people have died in clashes this year.
Those sentenced on Monday all appeared to be ethnic Uighurs, judging from the names printed in the state news reports.
The same court also sentenced seven students of Ilham Tohti, a Uighur academic and frequent government critic, to prison terms ranging from three to eight years on charges of belonging to a separatist group, said Li Fangping, a lawyer for Mr. Tohti, who is serving a life sentence. The sentencing of the students — six ethnic Uighurs and one member of the Yi minority — was not reported by the state news media, but Mr. Li said he learned of the decision on Monday from a lawyer for the students.
Of the death sentences handed down on Monday, two were for a train station attack in April in Urumqi. One person was killed and 79 people were injured in that attack, according to official reports. The attackers brandished knives and set off explosives.
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