![\"Tohti's](\"http:\/\/www.docs.uyghuramerican.org\/images\/guzaili_afp.jpg\" "\\"Tohti's")
<\/p>\nUygur academic Ilham Tohti denied allegations that he engaged in separatism as he went on trial Wednesday in the far western region of Xinjiang, as critics warned his prosecution would fan tensions in the region.<\/p>\n
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 17 September, 2014, 4:35pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 17 September, 2014, 4:38pm<\/p>\n
Uygur academic Ilham Tohti denied allegations that he engaged in separatism as he went on trial Wednesday in the far western region of Xinjiang, as critics warned his prosecution would fan tensions in the region.<\/p>\n
Tohti, a former economics professor in Beijing, is accused of leading activities aimed at overthrowing Chinese rule in Xinjiang, where authorities have been waging a \u201cwar on terror\u201d against separatists whom they blame for a spate of attacks over the past year and a half.<\/p>\n
He has rejected allegations, with his camp insisting he was being persecuted for being too critical of Beijing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s against separatism,\u201d Tohti\u2019s lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan, said during a midday pause in Wednesday\u2019s court proceedings at the Urumqi People\u2019s Intermediate Court in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has only talked about some of the legal and cultural issues of Xinjiang. He\u2019s against splitting the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tohti’s wife, Guzaili Nuer, says she is worried about her husband’s health. She is attending the trial with three brothers-in-law. Photo: AFP<\/em><\/p>\n Tohti\u2019s counsel said on Wednesday that their client would deny the charges. Separatism charges can carry the death penalty in China, but the wording of the indictment means life imprisonment is the heaviest sentence Tohti can face, said his lawyers.<\/p>\n Prosecutors will argue that Tohti\u2019s writings on his website Uygur Online, and his lectures at the Minzu University in Beijing, show that he was a leading member of a \u201cseparatist criminal organisation\u201d, according to his attorney Li Fangping. In interviews, Tohti has stated his opposition to independence or separatism.<\/p>\n The defendant\u2019s wife, Guzaili Nuer, has said he had health problems. She will attend the trial along with three of Tohti\u2019s brothers.<\/p>\n Nuer complained she was continually tailed by security agents. \u201cThey follow me everywhere, they are outside my brother\u2019s house as I speak,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m worried about [Tohti\u2019s] health, he has heart and stomach troubles, and he hasn\u2019t been allowed to visit a hospital,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Chinese police seal off the road leading to the Urumqi Intermediate People’s court. Photo: AFP<\/em><\/p>\n His lawyers said he had been denied food and kept in shackles during his detention. Li Fangping said the scholar was shackled for more than a month while in prison.<\/p>\n Police formed a several-block perimeter around the venue with tape, keeping away journalists, bystanders and nine Western diplomats including from Germany, Britain and Canada who travelled to Urumqi, in China\u2019s far west, in attempts to witness the trial.<\/p>\n Around noon, police blocked views of the street leading to the courthouse with eight tall panels promoting the upcoming China-Eurasia Expo in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n Several dozen police officers were stationed there, some in plain clothes and others clad in riot gear.<\/p>\n European Union diplomat Raphael Droszewski said the European Union expressed its deep concern over the indictment of Tohti, noting that he had worked \u201cpeacefully within China\u2019s laws\u201d and that the bloc has \u201curged China\u2019s government to release him and offer health care\u201d.<\/p>\n The trial is expected to last two days, but it was not clear when a verdict would be announced. Foreign journalists were not allowed inside, court officials did not announce any details and the court\u2019s telephone number rang unanswered.<\/p>\n Foreign diplomats travelled to Urumqi to observe the trial. Some of them called for Tohti’s immediate release. Photo: AFP<\/em><\/p>\n Mainland courts are tightly controlled by the ruling Communist party and have a near-100 per cent conviction rate in criminal cases.<\/p>\n The United States, EU, and several human rights groups have called for Tohti\u2019s release.<\/p>\n \u201cTohti has consistently, courageously, and unambiguously advocated peacefully for greater understanding and dialogue,\u201d said Sophie Richardson, China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch. \u201cIf this is Beijing\u00a1\u00a6s definition of \u2018separatist\u2019 activities, it\u2019s hard to see tensions in Xinjiang and between the communities decreasing.\u201d<\/p>\n Tohti was detained in January after he condemned the government\u2019s response to a suicide car attack in Tiananmen Square which the government blamed on Xinjiang militants.<\/p>\n Tohti devoted decades to researching government policy towards Uygurs, about 10 million of whom live in Xinjiang, a vast, resource-rich and strategically important region which abuts central Asia.<\/p>\n As a professor and writer, Tohti was known for his moderate stance on Uygur issues but was repeatedly subject to house arrest and prevented from leaving the country.<\/p>\n Associated Press and Agence France-Presse<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uygur academic Ilham Tohti denied allegations that he engaged in separatism as he went on trial Wednesday in the far western region of Xinjiang, as critics warned his prosecution would fan tensions in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-1166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1166"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=1166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"http:\/\/www.docs.uyghuramerican.org\/images\/seal_off_afp.jpg\" "\\"Chinese")
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