Chinese court cuts jail terms for 11 Xinjiang prisoners convicted of terror, separatist offences
Rare decision by region’s highest court meant to send a message of leniency for remorseful extremists who warn off others, analysts say
Authorities have cut the jail terms of 11 Uygur prisoners serving time in Xinjiang for separatism and endangering state security, Xinhua reported late Tuesday.
One of the prisoners, Memet Tohti Memet Rozi, was accused of having close contact with the separatist East Turkestan Islamic Movement and the Taliban. He also set up terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, according to Xinhua.
The Xinjiang Higher People’s Court cut the life sentences of seven of the offenders to terms of 19½ years or 20 years in jail. Four others, who were jailed for 15, 13 and eight years respectively, each had their sentences cut by six months. One prisoner was also released.
The report did not say when the prisoners were originally convicted and jailed. It also did not identify all the prisoners, saying only that some were key members of a separatist organisation or leaders of a terrorist group.
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One was Huseyin Celil. Celil, who joined the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and the East Turkestan Liberation Organisation, reportedly apologised for his crimes, saying he “brought irreparable damage” to his country, hometown and family.
Celil fled China and was granted Canadian citizenship in November 2005. He was detained in Uzbekistan in 2006 and extradited to China, where he was eventually sentenced to life in prison for endangering state security and organising a terrorist organisation in 2007, according to the Dui Hua Foundation.
