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Six more sentenced to death in Urumqi
By Cui Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-16 08:03
URUMQI: Six more people were sentenced to death yesterday for their roles in the deadly July 5 riots in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Among the six death sentences, three were with a two-year reprieve, a sentence usually commuted to life in prison. The Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi also sentenced three others to life in prison and five to other terms. All 21 defendants in the first batch of suspects standing trial in connection with the deadly riots in Urumqi, which left 197 dead and more than 1,700 injured, have been convicted. Twelve were given death sentences. After trials of seven suspects on Monday, 14 people went on trial on Wednesday on charges of murder, robbery, arson and vandalism in three cases. Verdicts of Wednesday's trials came down about 10 am yesterday. In the first case involving 11 defendants - the largest group tried so far - Ahmatjan Moming and Tohti Pazil were given death sentences for beating two people to death. Ainiwa'er Aikepa'er and Xi'erzhati Maimaititusong were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for intentional homicide, robbery and arson. Ruzi Imam, Tusongjiang Maimaiti and Tu'ersong Abulizi were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in attacks on members of the public and setting fire to and smashing private property. The remaining four of the 11 were given jail terms ranging from five to 18 years for arson and assaulting people with stones, bricks and clubs, according to the verdicts. In the second case, Aizezijiang Yasin was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on a charge of murder after he was found guilty of beating an innocent person to death. Yasin was given the lesser punishment as his confession helped the investigation, according to the verdict. However, some Urumqi residents believe he should have received harsher punishment. "I think the sentence for Yasin is not harsh enough. He should be sentenced to death rather than death with a two-year reprieve. After all, he killed one person," said Shi Yuling, a Urumqi resident in her 40s. "All defendants convicted of intentional homicide should be sentenced to death. The government has promised to give the rioters harsh punishment," said a local business man surnamed Li. "This is the only way to comfort the people of Xinjiang." In the third case, Han Junbo and Liu Bo were found guilty of attacking Rouzhahong Ahmad and Kurban Ahmad "on rumors" two days after July 5, the court said, without elaborating. Rouzhahong Ahmad died of injuries and Kurban Ahmad was slightly injured after jumping from a building to escape. Han was sentenced to death while Liu was jailed for 10 years. Han looked extremely calm when receiving his sentence yesterday. Urumqi's deputy chief procurator said earlier that accusations have been brought against 108 suspects allegedly involved in the riot, which means at least 87 suspects are still pending trial. The victims' families welcomed the death sentences. On July 5, four members of a family with the surname of Zou were beaten to death by the group of four defendants who all received death sentences on Monday. Li Deyuan sat at the hearing as a Zou family member. He had tears of joy when the court delivered death sentences to all four defendants. He held up pictures of the victims when the defendants were taken out of the court. "We've been counting the days to this moment. Only death sentences could comfort us," Li said. "Now they can rest in peace." Li even asked his relatives to tape the footage of the court hearing and play it at the graves of the four family members in their hometown in Sichuan province. Zhang Wei, whose father was killed in the riots, said he felt relieved to see the criminals receive the death penalty. "The trial is the best gift for my dad," he said. Xinhua contributed to the story
(China Daily 10/16/2009 page3) |
