China: Two sentenced to death for murdering pro-govt Imam

Beijing: Two persons were sentenced to death and another to life imprisonment by a local court for murdering a pro government imam in Kashghar region of north-west China near the border with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Gheni Hasan and Nurmemet Abidilimit were sentenced to death on charges of forming and leading terrorist groups and murder, while Atawulla Tursun was handed over life imprisonment on charges of taking part in terrorist groups and murder, the verdict by the Kashgar Intermediate People’s Court said.

The court said the gang, led by Gheni Hasan, was influenced by religious extremism and trained its members to murder patriotic religious figures, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

On July 30, Nurmemet Abidilimit and two other members killed Imam Jume Tahir outside the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar.

The murder took place in the country’s troubled Xinjiang province. Two gang members were later shot dead by police in the manhunt.

The hearing was attended by the members of the public, the media report said.

A series of terrorist attacks has shocked China’s restive Xinjiang province where the country is battling an upsurge in separatist violence by ethnic Muslim Uygurs.

The province’s native 11 million-strong Muslim Uygur population is restive over the increasing settlements of Han Chinese from other provinces.

China accuses East Turkestan Islamic movement, (ETIM) of carrying out several terrorist attacks in the recent past.

PTI