CHINA DEATH SENTENCES OVER RIOTS
Originally Published by: BBC 2009/12/03
A court in China’s Xinjiang region has sentenced five people to death for murder and other crimes over deadly ethnic riots in July, state media said.
Two other people were sentenced to life imprisonment, Xinhua news agency said.Nine people were executed last month over the riots in which nearly 200 people were killed.
Chinese officials have said most of the victims were members of China’s majority Han ethnic group who were attacked by ethnic Uighurs.
Xinhua’s report named the five sentenced to death as Memeteli Islam, Mamattursun Elmu, Memeteli Abburakm, Kushiman Kurban and Helil Sadir.
Eight other people received jail terms, Xinhua said, including the two sentenced to life in prison.
Struggle to restore order
The five sentenced to death all appear to be Uighurs, judging by their names, correspondents say. The Uighurs are a Turkic minority in China that calls Xinjiang their homeland.