September 17, 2014 -- Updated 0923 GMT (1723 HKT)
Nine months after being detained by Chinese authorities, a prominent
Uyghur scholar charged with "separatism" went on trial Wednesday, his
lawyer said. FULL STORY
Prominent Uyghur scholar goes on trial in China for 'separatism'
September 17, 2014 -- Updated 0657 GMT (1457 HKT)
Police seal off the road leading to the Urumqi Intermediate People's court as the trial of Ilham Tohti begins on Sept. 17.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ilham Tohtia, a prominent Uyghur scholar, was charged with "separatism"
- Detained by police in January, he was taken to his native province of Xinjiang
- Police say they gathered firm evidence of him colluding with overseas forces to "spread separatist ideas"
- Tohti's lawyers have said that the scholar continues to emphasize his innocence
Ilham Tohti, an economics
professor at Beijing's Minzu University, was detained by police in
January and taken to his native Xinjiang, China's restive northwestern
region where a spate of recent violent incidents have been blamed by the
government on Muslim Uyghur separatists seeking to establish an
independent state.
Liu Xiaoyuan, one of
Tohti's lawyers, told CNN earlier this week that he expected the trial
to be short at the Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi, the capital of
Xinjiang, and a verdict and sentencing would likely be announced at a
later date.
Ilham Tohti in a photo dated Feb. 4, 2013.
Liu later tweeted that
the hearing would last two days and the government allowed four family
members -- including Tohti's wife -- to be present. The authorities
cordoned off the street in front of the court Wednesday morning, and the
area was teeming with uniformed and plainclothes police, the lawyer
said online before the trial began.
Although the government
charged Tohti only in late July, Xinjiang police said in a statement in
January that they had gathered firm evidence of him colluding with
overseas forces to "spread separatist ideas, incite ethnic hatred and
advocate Xinjiang independence." The police statement also said Tohti
had taught students about "violent Uyghur resistance" in his class and
encouraged them to overthrow the Chinese government.
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Advocate for understanding
Tohti's lawyers have said that the scholar emphasized his innocence throughout his detention.
"He reiterated that he
has advocated to improve the rule of law, democracy and ethnic harmony
in Xinjiang," Li Fangping, Tohti's other lawyer, told CNN earlier.
"Tohti has consistently,
courageously and unambiguously advocated peacefully for greater
understanding and dialogue between various communities, and with the
state," said Sophie Richardson, China director of the international
advocacy group Human Rights Watch, in a statement. "If this is Beijing's
definition of 'separatist' activities, it's hard to see tensions in
Xinjiang... decreasing."
Li, the lawyer, also
complained about the treatment of Tohti in jail, saying he was put in
shackles again recently after receiving the same treatment for three
weeks upon arrival.
"He went on a hunger
strike for some 10 days in January after they refused to provide him
with Muslim food," Li said. "They also denied him food for about 10 days
in March after the Kunming incident," he added, referring to the
stabbings at a train station in the southwestern city of Kunming that
left 29 people dead.
Uyghur separatists were blamed for the attack.
CNN's phone calls to the Xinjiang government for comment went unanswered.
'Waves of Han'
Tohti is known for his
research on Uyghur-Han relations and has been a vocal critic of the
government's ethnic policies in Xinjiang, a resource-rich region long
inhabited by the Turkic-speaking, largely Muslim Uyghurs. The arrival of
waves of Han, China's predominant ethnic group, over the past decades
has fueled ethnic tensions.
Some Uyghurs have
expressed resentment toward the Han majority in recent years over what
they describe as harsh treatment from Chinese security forces and loss
of economic opportunities to Han people in Xinjiang.
Tohti has consistently, courageously and unambiguously advocated
peacefully for greater understanding and dialogue between various
communities, and with the state.
Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watch
Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International
has said Uyghurs face widespread discrimination in employment, housing
and education, as well as curtailed religious freedom. Other critics,
including exiled Uyghur activists, have attributed the rise of violence
in Xinjiang to Beijing's increasingly repressive rule there -- a claim
the government vehemently denies.
In late July, the
state-run Xinhua news agency reported that a gang wielding knives and
axes attacked civilians, a police station, government offices and
smashed vehicles in southern Xinjiang, killing 37 people. The government
called the incident an "organized and premeditated" terrorist attack
and said police at the scene shot dead 59 people in the mob and arrested
more than 200, according to Xinhua.
In the region's
deadliest single violent incident in recent history, a suicide bombing
in May killed 39 people at a street market in Urumqi. Another apparent
suicide bombing left three dead in April at an Urumqi train station.
The Chinese government
has responded by launching a massive anti-terrorism campaign as well as
pouring more economic resources into Xinjiang.
Last week, four people were convicted of plotting the knife attack at the Kunming Railway Station. Three were sentenced to death and the fourth to life imprisonment.
In June, China executed 13 people convicted of terrorism charges
related to attacks on public places in Xinjiang in recent months. Also
in June, a court in Urumqi sentenced three people to death for their
roles in a deadly attack in Beijing's Tiananmen Square last October.
Defendant names revealed by state media all sounded Uyghur.
"The long-term solution
to Xinjiang's unrest is not further repression, but greater
understanding of the Uyghurs' grievances and perspectives," said
Richardson of Human Rights Watch. "If Tohti -- a peaceful, articulate
critic -- is given a harsh sentence, what confidence can any Uyghur have
that their very real grievances will ever get a hearing with Chinese
authorities?"
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