TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A Chinese court has sentenced an Uighur human rights activist to lifetime imprisonment over charges of conspiring with a known separatist group. "The decision will draw condemnation by international communities," said Li Fangping, the activist's attorney.
Beijing-based economist Ilham Tohti was sentenced by the Urumqi People's Intermediary Court on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 after a two-day hearing that ended last week in Xinjiang.
Tohti is known as a soft-spoken moderate who is a staunch supporter of the rights of the Uighur minority, who lives under the oppression of China's Han majority. He was arrested in January 2014, along with seven of his students.
"Human rights organizations cannot accept the charges brought against Tohti," said Al-Jazeera's correspondent in Xinjiang, Adrian Brown. "He is known to be a soft-spoken moderate who aims at building bridges between the government and the various separatist groups who seek to wreak havoc in Xinjiang," explained Brown.
Li Fangping said to Reuters that his client maintains his innocence and will appeal the court's ruling. "This case has been truly politicized," he said.
AL JAZEERA | CHOIRUL
