Uighur scholar, respected internationally for constructive views on China\u2019s ethnic tensions, is accused of fomenting separatism<\/p>\n
Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing
theguardian.com, Wednesday 17 September 2014 01.42 EDT <\/p>\n
Chinese authorities began trying the Uighur academic Ilham Tohti on charges of \u201cseparatism\u201d on Wednesday morning, in what human rights groups have called a \u201ctravesty of justice\u201d that underscores the government\u2019s unwillingness to field even moderate criticisms of its ethnic policies.<\/p>\n
Tohti, 44, is being tried at the Urumqi intermediate court in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, more than 1,800 miles (3,000km) west of his home in Beijing. He will almost certainly be convicted; possible sentences range from 10 years to life in prison. He firmly denies the charge.<\/p>\n
Tohti, a former economics professor at the prestigious Minzu University of China in Beijing, was arrested in January and charged with separatism in July. His lawyers Liu Xiaoming and Li Fangping claim that he was shackled in prison, and denied access to food and warm clothes<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe said he is still in leg irons. Urumqi is already cold but he is still wearing short sleeves and he has fallen ill. He has not been given the clothes his family sent to him,\u201d Li told Reuters after meeting with Tohti on Monday.<\/p>\n Xinjiang, a massive north-western region bordering several central Asian states, has seen an explosion of ethnic violence in recent months \u2014 mainly mass stabbings, bombings and vehicular attacks perpetrated by Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim group of eight million, against majority Han Chinese.<\/p>\n Communist authorities have blamed the violence on Islamic fundamentalists and independence-seeking terrorist groups, and have responded by inundating the region with a military-style show of force. Uighur activists call the attacks a reflection of homegrown grievances, including severe cultural and religious restrictions. They say that the crackdown has only exacerbated the region\u2019s ethnic divide<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAmong outspoken Uighurs, Tohti is one of the few that are not calling for independence \u2014 he\u2019s not connected to independence organisations,\u201d said Eliot Sperling, a professor at Indiana University who knew Tohti. \u201cAt the same time he has been scrupulously forthright about what\u2019s going on in Xinjiang \u2014 repression on the basis of nationality, and repression on the basis of religion, and calling for investigations into the truth behind government actions there.\u201d<\/p>\n Prison guards have kept Tohti in leg irons since 9 August after a \u201cquarrel\u201d with his cell mates, his lawyers have said. Authorities denied him food for 10 days in March after a band of knife-wielding Uighurs executed a brutal terror attack at a southern Chinese train station<\/a>. His wife, Guzailai Nu\u2019er, and two young sons have not been allowed to visit him in prison.<\/p>\n Tohti\u2019s lawyers say the evidence against him includes dozens of articles and interviews with foreign media that touch on separatism, and 52 DVDs, some of which contain his university lectures. Seven people with connections to the academic, including some of his former students, have also been detained.<\/p>\n In a statement Human Rights Watch called the trial a \u201ctravesty of justice<\/a>\u201d and a \u201cdisturbing example of politicised show trials and intolerance for peaceful criticism\u201d.<\/p>\n Tohti moved to Beijing in 1985<\/a> and began teaching at the university in the early 90s. He is perhaps best known in Uighur communities as the host of Uighur Online, a bilingual Uighur-Chinese online forum that encouraged candid debate about the government\u2019s regional policies. Authorities blocked the site in mid-2008. Tohti\u2019s name is currently censored on social media websites.<\/p>\n