China sentences six men to death over ethnic riots

CHINA sentenced six people to death yesterday over deadly July riots in its restive Xinjiang region, delivering on a vow of harsh retribution over the ethnic unrest.

The six were convicted of murder and other crimes by a court in the regional capital Urumqi in the first trials over the riots that killed nearly 200 people and left the city riven by ethnic tension.

China Central Television (CCTV) said one other defendant was sentenced to life in prison over the unrest, in which members of the Uighur minority went on a rampage in attacks directed at members of China’s dominant Han ethnic group.

Xinhua news agency said the seven, all men, were convicted in three separate cases. It identified them by names that appeared to be Uighur.

Authorities had tightened up security ahead of the trials, state media reported, apparently fearing the verdicts could spark further violence. China National Radio said up to 14,000 security forces were deployed on Sunday to begin 24-hour patrols.

The exiled World Uighur Congress condemned the sentences, saying that the defendants were not given access to lawyers of their own choosing.

“The verdicts by China against the Uighurs were not reached in accordance with normal legal procedures but were made in accordance with political demands,” said congress spokesman Dilxat Raxit.

“Concerning the death sentences, we believe this will only make the overall situation worse.”

The riots were the worst ethnic violence to hit China in decades, leaving 197 people dead, most of them Han, and more than 1,600 injured, according to the government.

Detailing the cases, Xinhua said a man named Abdukerim Abduwayit was convicted of beating five innocent people to death and setting a building on fire.

Four others sentenced were convicted of jointly beating four people to death, it said, while another defendant killed five people when he set a grain shop on fire.

The man who received life in prison, Tayirejan Abulimit, was convicted of “attacking, smashing, looting and burning”, a term Chinese authorities use for rioting.