|
Uighur-Canadian jailed in China on terrorism charge
 China jailed a Uighur-Canadian for life on Thursday for separatism and terrorism and warned Canada not to get involved. The Intermediate Peoples Court in Urumqi, capital of the tense northwestern region of Xinjiang, convicted Huseyin Celil, 37, of terrorist activities and plotting to split the country, Xinhua news agency reported, the second ethnic Uighur activist jailed in China this week. China accuses Uighur militants of using violence in their struggle to set up an independent East Turkestan state in predominantly Muslim Xinjiang, which borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and restive Central Asian states. Described by Xinhua as a prominent member of pro-East Turkestan terrorist organisations, Celil was also deprived of his political rights for life. Celil fled China in the mid-1990s and sought asylum through the UN refugee office in Turkey, according to human rights watchdog Amnesty International. Canada accepted him as a refugee and he obtained citizenship there in November 2005, Amnesty said. But China considers Celil a Chinese citizen and has refused Canadian officials access to him. On Thursday it again warned Canada not to press his case. We hope that Canada wont use this to interfere in Chinas domestic affairs and also hope that Chinese-Canadian relations wont be affected, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular news conference in Beijing. Canada should be extremely clear on Chinas position that the case of Celil is entirely Chinas domestic matter. Posted by: Fred 2007-04-20 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=186277 |