Beijing (Antara Bali/AFP) - China has sentenced nine people to death on
terrorism-related charges in its ethnically divided western region of
Xinjiang, state media said Thursday, as authorities crack down following
several deadly attacks.
Multiple courts in Xinjiang sentenced 81 suspects on various terror-related charges, state-broadcaster CCTV said.
In the past year Xinjiang -- home to the mostly Muslim Uighur
minority -- has seen an increase in violent clashes, which Beijing
blames on organised terrorist groups seeking independence for the
region.
Critics say Beijing exaggerates the terror threat in Xinjiang to
justify hard-line measures, and point to economic inequality and
cultural and religious repression of Uighurs as causes of unrest.
Also on Thursday, 29 people described as "terrorist suspects" were
detained in Xinjiangs capital Urumqi on charges including "inciting
separatism" and "gathering mobs to disturb order in a public place", the
state-run Xinjiang Net said.
The 29 cases were processed according to new rules calling on state
prosecutors to complete terror-related investigations within 24 hours,
the report said.
China last month vowed a year-long campaign against terrorism, after
attackers in Urumqi killed 39 people in a suicide raid on a
marketplace.
Assailants armed with knives and explosives carried out an attack at
a railway station in the city in April, killing one person and wounding
79 as President Xi Jinping visited the region.
Authorities in Xinjiang last week sentenced 55 people for offences
including terrorism at a mass sentencing in a stadium attended by about
7,000 people. Hundreds of others are reported to have been detained in
recent weeks.
Rights groups have expressed concerns about whether terror suspects
in the region are granted fair trials, given the common use of forced
confessions in the Chinese legal system.
"Lack of justice and legal procedure will lead to more people losing
their freedom for political reasons," Dilshat Rexit, a spokesman for
the exiled World Uyghur Congress, said in a statement.
Information about Xinjiang, a vast and resource-rich region
bordering Central Asia, is difficult to verify independently, with
foreign and local journalists subject to heavy restrictions. (WDY)
China Sentences Nine `Terrorists` to Death
Jumat, 6 Juni 2014 10:15 WIB
