An Urumqi court passed an unexpectedly heavy sentence of life imprisonment for separatism on Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, even though he has long opposed Xinjiang independence.
The state news agency Xinhua offers more details of Ilham Tohti’s alleged crimes, including the accusation that he “bewitched and coerced young ethnic students to work for the website [Uighur Online] and built a criminal syndicate.” Seven of his students have also been detained and are likely to face trial.
“My father Ilham Tohti has used only one weapon in his struggle for the basic rights of Uyghur of Xinjiang: words, spoken, written, distributed and posted. This is all that he has ever had at his disposal, and all he has ever needed. And this is what China finds so threatening. Locations may differ, countries and societies may differ, but the fear of free thought and the power of words still sadly tortures the minds of so many who rule.”
