China prosecuted hundreds over Xinjiang unrest
Courts have tried 376 people for involvement in August violence that left six dead and 15 injured
Courts in the Xinjiang region of China tried 376 people last year for "crimes against national security" and their involvement in violence that left at least six dead, the People's Daily website, citing a high court official, reported today.
Six people died and 15 were injured in an attack on military police in the region long the scene of ethnic tension and violence in August.
"The people's courts, at all various levels in Xinjiang ... put the crackdown on terrorism as its top priority for the criminal courts," Rozi Simayi, the president of the supreme people's court in Xinjiang, was quoted as saying.
Beijing blamed religious extremism, ethnic separatism and international terrorism in Xinjiang for attacks on police or other government targets, saying the attackers were working with al-Qaida or central Asian militants to bring about an independent state called East Turkestan.
Uighur exiles have accused China of whipping up the threat posed by armed separatists to justify harsh crackdowns in Xinjiang.
Many Uighurs a Muslim, Turkic-speaking people native to the region resent rule from Beijing and restrictions on their language, culture and religion. They comprise less than half of Xinjiang's population after decades of immigration by the ethnic Han majority.
In July 2009, nearly 200 people died in violence that exploded across Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi, after a protest by Turkic Uighurs, who have called the region home for centuries but fear they are being marginalised.
Han Chinese launched revenge attacks two days later.
Comments