Five people were on Thursday sentenced to death for their role in July’s ethnic violence in China’s Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, State media reported.
Trials began in October for more than a hundred suspects charged in connection with the violence which left at least 197 people dead and
more than 1,700 injured. Nine people were executed in October for crimes ranging from arson and robbery to murder. On July 5, mass riots broke out in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, between Uighurs, one of 55 minority groups in China, and Han Chinese, the country’s biggest ethnic group.
The five sentenced to death on Thursday appeared to have Uighur names. They were convicted for murdering a police officer, killing three
bystanders, including one woman, and setting fire to shops. Two others were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the crimes.
Xinjiang, in China’s far west, has seen tension between native Uighurs and the Han Chinese who have migrated to the region in large numbers in recent years. Officials said most of the victims of July’s ethnic violence were Han Chinese targeted by Uighur mobs.
At least 825 people, mostly Uighurs, have since been detained. More than a hundred have been charged with crimes, and 34 have been convicted. Five more cases will be heard on Friday.
