2 Uighurs get death sentences

Two Uighur former government officials in China’s Xinjiang have been handed death sentences for carrying out “separatist activities”, a court said, as Beijing comes under increasing fire for its actions towards minority groups in the region.

Shirzat Bawudun, a former head of the Xinjiang department of justice has been sentenced to death with a twoyear reprieve on the charge of “splitting the country”, according to a statement released on Tuesday on the Xinjiang government website.

Bawudun had conspired with a terrorist organisation, taken bribes, and carried out separatist activities, Wang Langtao, vice-president of the Xinjiang Higher People’s Court, said at a press conference.

Bawudun was found guilty of colluding with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) — listed as a “terrorist” group by the United Nations — after meeting a key member of the group in 2003, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The US removed the group from its list of terror groups last November, saying there was “no credible evidence that ETIM continues to exist”.

Bawudun also illegally proved “information to foreign forces” as well as carrying out “illegal religious activities at his daughter’s wedding”, Xinhua reported.

The court statement said Sattar Sawut — former director of the Xinjiang education department — was also sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve after being found guilty of crimes of separatism, as well as taking bribes.

Sawut was found guilty of incorporating ethnic separatism, violence, terrorism, and religious extremism content into textbooks in the Uighur language, officials said.

The court said the textbooks had influenced several people to participate in attacks in the capital Urumqi including riots that resulted in at least 200 deaths in 2009.

A death sentence with a reprieve is usually commuted to a life sentence.