China jails seven students of prominent Uighur scholar for separatism

Seven students of prominent Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, sentenced to life in prison for inciting separatism, have been jailed for between three and eight years, a rights lawyer said .

The Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi in northwestern China convicted the ethnic minority students of the same charge of inciting separatism, lawyer Li Fangping told dpa Tuesday .

Li, who defended Tohti, said he heard the information from people close to their cases Monday, but it was unclear when the verdict had been handed down .

"We dont think Ilham was guilty, nor do we think the students were guilty," Li said .

Prosecutors accused Tohti, 44, of coercing students to work for the website Uighurbiz.net and building a criminal syndicate, according to the official Xinhua news agency .

Three students, Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat and Luo Yuwei, had confessed on state television that Tohti instructed them to run articles that could stir ethnic tensions .

The other four students are Mutellip Imin, Abduqeyum Ablimit, Atikem Rozi and Akbar Imin .

Li said in a post on the Chinese microblog website Weibo that the students' sentences were shorter than expected .

China's state-run media earlier identified the students as ethnic minorities, with six being Uighur and Luo being from the Yi group .

A trial court in Urumqi last month confirmed a life sentence for Tohti. It said he had attacked the government's policy on minorities, religion, and economic and family planning .

Tohti is seen as a moderate voice representing the Turkic Uighur people in northwestern China. His sentence has drawn international condemnation .

His conviction came amid a campaign against terrorism and separatism that China has pursued after a series of bloody attacks and clashes in Xinjiang province .

Uighurs complain of repression, and there have been tensions for years between them and the Han Chinese .

Shortly before his arrest, Tohti had accused the ruling Communist Party of "violating the culture and customs of an ethnic minority group" through its controls on Uighurs' religious practice, U.S.-based Radio Free Asia said .

The mainly Muslim Uighurs make up about 9 million of Xinjiang's 22 million people .