2009-07-18

Xinjiang “Troublemakers” Could Face Up to 20 Criminal Charges

7·5肇事者涉20余项罪名

Beijing News, 2009-07-18

Authorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region have vowed to “'severely and quickly' punish troublemakers in strict accordance to the law, in order to maintain social stability and respect for the law.” Those involved in last week's “7-5” (5 July) riots could face up to 20 different criminal charges, ranging from endangering national security and inciting separatism and ethnic hatred to infringing citizen's personal and democratic rights and gathering to disturb public order. No mention is made of the ethnicity of the “troublemakers” (also translated at “peacebreakers”) facing such charges, but reference to those who “received foreign orders” and “organized, planned, and directed” the violence appears to refer to Uighurs only, not Han Chinese who later sought retribution.

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