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Rights groups condemn Beijing after
Uighur journalist jailed for 15 years
AFP , BEIJING
Sunday, Jul 25, 2010, Page 1
Human rights groups yesterday condemned China¡¦s jailing of an
ethnic Uighur journalist who spoke to foreign journalists about last year¡¦s
deadly riots in Xinjiang.
A court in Urumqi, capital of the far-western region, sentenced Gheyret Niyaz to
15 years in jail for endangering state security, the Uighurbiz.net Web site
reported on Friday.
¡§We are utterly astonished at the outcome of this trial,¡¨ the press-freedom
group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.
¡§In giving him such a heavy sentence and imprisoning other journalists and
netizens whose sole crime is to have spoken about these events, the Chinese
authorities are not encouraging a negotiated solution,¡¨ the statement said.
Niyaz, who is also known as Hailaite Niyazi, was detained following deadly
unrest last July between the Muslim Uighur minority and members of China¡¦s
dominant Han ethnic group.
His arrest came after he criticized Chinese policy in Xinjiang in comments to
foreign reporters.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), a network of domestic and overseas
activists, released a statement saying Niyaz was denied a fair trial at the
one-day proceedings on Friday.
¡§CHRD demands the immediate release of Hailaite Niyazi,¡¨ the group said. ¡§We
believe he has been imprisoned for exercising his right to freedom of
expression, and is being retaliated against¡¨ for comments critical of the
Xinjiang leadership, it said.
China¡¦s approximately 8 million Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking, Muslim group that
has long resented what many allege is Chinese political, religious and economic
oppression, as well as unwanted Han immigration to Xinjiang.
That anger burst out in last year¡¦s violence ¡X China¡¦s worst ethnic unrest in
decades ¡X which left nearly 200 dead and 1,700 injured, according to government
figures.
Niyaz, a former reporter for the Xinjiang Economic Daily, was widely regarded as
supportive of the Chinese government by overseas Uighurs, the Uighur American
Association said.
But he had criticized regional economic inequalities and accused government
officials of botching efforts to fight Uighur separatism, it said.
Niyaz was one of a number of Uighur journalists, Web masters and bloggers
detained after the unrest, the association said.
¡§Gheyret Niyaz admitted in court that he accepted interviews from foreign media,
but insisted that he had no malicious intentions and was only doing what a
citizen, or reporter, should do,¡¨ his wife Reshalaiti was quoted as saying.
¡§Fifteen years imprisonment is an outrageous punishment for journalism that
highlighted the longstanding grievances of the Uighur people,¡¨ said Catherine
Baber, Amnesty International¡¦s deputy director for Asia-Pacific.
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