Chinese court upholds life sentence against Uyghur activist

Beijing, Nov 21 (IANS/EFE) A court in western China has upheld the conviction and life sentence handed down against Uyghur activist Ilham Tohti, who appealed the sentence when it was first passed in September, one of his attorneys Li Fangping, told Efe news agency Friday.

Tohti was arrested in January on charges of leading an eight-member group of separatists, after the dispute between the Muslim ethnic minority Uyghur people and the Communist regime in Beijing took a violent turn.

The 46-year-old intellectual and professor at Beijing's Minzu University was one of the few activists who spoke out against the situation of the Uyghurs and criticised the way they are being treated by Chinese authorities.

 

Tohti was accused of using his popular web page "UyghurOnline" to spread rumours and instigate separatism, as well as demanding independence of Xinjiang, the autonomous region of northwestern China where most Uyghur and several other non-Chinese minorities live.

The sentence against Tohti was strongly criticised by the international community, including the European Union and the US government.

The professor has been a voice of moderation in favour of an understanding between Uyghurs and the Han Chinese who account for the vast majority of China's 1.35 billion people.

Tohti also criticized the Beijing government's policies that have resulted in the forced migration of Uyghurs to other parts of the country.

Dozens of people have been killed this year in terrorist attacks, which Beijing attributes to terrorist and pro-independence groups operating in Xinjiang.

--IANS/EFE

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