Followers of illegal religion in Xinjiang jailed

KASHGAR, Xinjiang - A court in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday convicted 22 people for conducting illegal religious activities.

The convicted, who received jail terms of between five and 16 years, were convicted on charges including inciting ethnic hatred, disrupting social order and rape, according to the Kashgar City People's Court.

They included "underground imams", or unappointed heads of mosques, as well as imams who continued to hold services after being sacked.

Kashgar Mayor Enwaer Tursun said after the trial that Xinjiang had been plagued by religious extremism, which had disrupted social order and fed the ideology of terrorism.