Uighur academic on trial in China on separatism charges

A prominent Uighur academic from the restive Chinese region of Xinjiang was refused warm clothing and bedding as he went on trial in shackles yesterday on charges of promoting separatism.

The trial of economics professor Ilham Tohti has sparked fears of human rights abuses in the far western Chinese region, which has been rocked by terror attacks in recent months.

Mr Tohti was arrested in January and accused of separatist acts, as part of a broader crackdown in Xinjiang. He was transferred to a jail 2,000 miles to the west in the Xinjiang provincial capital Urumqi.

He was denied access to lawyers for the first five months of his detention, rights groups say, and police raided his home and seized computers, telephones and his students’ theses.

At the time, his wife, Guzaili Nu’er, told of how 30 police officers raided the family apartment and searched it for six hours.

Relations

There are 10 million Turkic-speaking Uighurs in Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia and, in recent years, relations between them and the Han Chinese migrants coming into the province have become increasingly difficult.

China says militants in the region are trying to introduce an extreme form of Islam, but human rights groups believe Beijing exaggerates the threat to justify harsh controls. The region has seen intensified violence in the past year and a half, and hundreds have died in violence which Beijing blames on Islamist militants and separatists, prompting a major crackdown by authorities.

"He said he is still in leg irons. Urumqi is already cold, but he is still wearing shorts sleeves and he has fallen ill. He has not been given the clothes his family sent to him," his lawyer, Li Fangping, told Reuters.

Mr Tohti was a teacher at Minzu University in Beijing, which specialises in ethnic minority studies. He insists he has never had links to any terrorist organisation or foreign-based group and has “relied only on pen and paper to diplomatically request” rights for Uighurs.