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DEATH SENTENCES TO "CAUSE ANGER" AMONG UIGHURS

Hurriyet - October 13, 2009 The sentencing of six Uighurs to death for their involvement in riots in July in China’s Xinjiang region will cause shock and anger among the Uighur people, World Uighur Congress President Rabia Kadeer has said. “This is an injustice,” Kadeer said on a New Zealand radio station. “Angering the Uighur community further is not conducive to creating peace and stability in the region.” According to the Anatolia news agency, she said the accused had been denied due legal process. The Chinese government blames the rioting on overseas-based groups agitating for greater Uighur rights in the autonomous Xinjiang region but has presented no direct evidence. By the official count, 197 people were killed and more than 1,700 people were injured in the riots that started July 5. The six defendants were convicted of murder, robbery, arson and property damage, and they received death sentences. One other person was sentenced to life in prison. The convicts’ ethnicities have not been made public, but their names identify them distinctively as Uighur. Chinese media has reported that 21 people had been indicted on charges, including murder and arson.

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