China Tries Students of Convicted Minority Scholar

Beijing: Seven minority students working for a website run by a prominent Muslim Uighur scholar recently convicted of separatism stood trial on the same charge on Tuesday in China's far west region of Xinjiang, a rights lawyer said.

Li Fangping, a defense lawyer for the economics professor Ilham Tohti, said the students were certain to be found guilty by the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court, the same court that sentenced their teacher - known for his outspoken criticism of the government and its ethnic policy - to life imprisonment in September.

"The question is how many years these students will be jailed," Li said. "But we don't expect them to be jailed as long as their teacher."

Repeated calls to the court were unanswered. The court also provided no information on the students' trials on its official website or social media accounts.

Li said the students were charged with separatism for their involvement with Uighur Online, a website run by Ilham Tohti but later shut down by the government. Some also were accused of attending religious meetings in Hong Kong, Li said.

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Ilham Tohti told the court earlier that he set up the website to give the minority Uighur people a voice and help the Han Chinese people understand the ethnic minority, but the court ruled that the professor used the site to incite ethnic hatred.

At least three students - Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat, and Luo Yuwei- have confessed on state television that, while working for Uighur Online, they were instructed by the professor to run articles that could exacerbate ethnic tensions. The other four students are Mutellip Imin, Abduqeyum Ablimit, Atikem Rozi and Akbar Imin.

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Atikem Rozi had spoken out publicly about how the government had refused to issue her a passport - a common complaint among Uighurs.

Supporters of Ilham Tohti say the scholar and his students are being punished for his criticisms of the government.

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President Barack Obama has urged Beijing to free Ilham Tohti.