China sentences three to death over Xinjiang unrest

A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced three people to death and another to 25 years in jail over violent unrest in the ethnically-divided Xinjiang region in which dozens were killed, state media reported.

China labelled the June 26 riots as a “violent terrorist attack”, and reacted by boosting security and vowing to crack down on such incidents.

The Xinhua state news agency said at the time that “knife-wielding mobs” attacked police stations and other sites in Lukqun township, Shanshan county, before officers opened fire, leaving 35 people dead.

In a brief report late Thursday it said a court in Xinjiang “sentenced three persons to death and one person to 25 years in jail for a violent terrorist attack” in Shanshan on that date.

The incident was the deadliest to hit the western desert region – home to around 10 million members of the mostly Muslim Uygur minority – since July 6, 2009, when riots killed around 200 people.

Two days later, in Hotan city more than 1,000 kilometres away, Xinhua said, 100 “terrorists” provoked “riots” and attacked people “after gathering at local religious venues”.