China sentences 8 to death for attacks in Xinjiang
9 Dec 2014 1:49 AM GMT
The Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court in the capital of Xinjiang also handed out suspended death sentences to five others, China Central Television said, without mentioning when the trials were held. In a separate case, the same court jailed seven minority students of a prominent Uighur scholar for three to eight years after convicting them of separatism, rights lawyer Li Fangping said Monday.
Violence linked to Xinjiang has killed about 400 people in and outside the region over the past 20 months. Beijing has blamed the attacks on radical separatists with foreign ties, although critics and human rights advocates say Uighurs have chafed under the repressive rule of the Han Chinese-dominated government.
Uighurs also complain of economic disenfranchisement with the inflow of Han Chinese to their homeland. Beijing says it is pumping investments into the region to help it grow.
Most attacks have been mounted against state targets, such as police stations, military checkpoints and government buildings, but assailants also have struck at civilians in several recent incidents, slashing at crowds with knives or setting off bombs at train stations and commercial areas.
Violence linked to Xinjiang has killed about 400 people in and outside the region over the past 20 months. Beijing has blamed the attacks on radical separatists with foreign ties, although critics and human rights advocates say Uighurs have chafed under the repressive rule of the Han Chinese-dominated government.
Uighurs also complain of economic disenfranchisement with the inflow of Han Chinese to their homeland. Beijing says it is pumping investments into the region to help it grow.
Most attacks have been mounted against state targets, such as police stations, military checkpoints and government buildings, but assailants also have struck at civilians in several recent incidents, slashing at crowds with knives or setting off bombs at train stations and commercial areas.
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