Three get death for China train station attack

Fri Sep 12, 2014 12:19pm GMT
 

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese court sentenced three people to death and one to life in prison on Friday for an attack at a train station that triggered a sweeping crackdown on what Beijing calls militant violence.

The government said knife-wielding militants from the western region of Xinjiang launched a premeditated attack in March at the Kunming station in the southwestern province of Yunnan, in which 31 people were killed and 141 injured. Police shot dead four of the attackers.

China's leaders have vowed to strike hard at religious militants and separatist groups, which they blame for a series of violent attacks in Xinjiang, the traditional home of the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority.

State television showed the four suspects - three men and one woman - sitting in court in Kunming, watched over by police dressed in black.

The court announced the sentencing on its official microblog, naming the four defendants, all of whom are Uighur, to judge by their names.

"Today's trial clearly shows the resolute attitude and staunch determination of the Chinese government to protect the life, property, security and joint interests of all ethnicities, and severely strike at violent terrorism crimes," the Kunming Municipal Intermediate People's Court said.

Iskandar Ehet, Turgun Tohtunyaz and Hasayn Muhammad were sentenced to death for leading a terrorist organization and intentional homicide. The fourth defendant, Patigul Tohti, was jailed for life for taking part in the attack as well as intentional homicide, because she was pregnant at the time of her detention.

Patigul Tohti was shot and wounded by police at the station, while the other three were arrested a few days before the attack while trying to flee the country, the court said.   Continued...

Defendants are escorted by police officers at a courtroom in Kunming City during the trial of four people accused of participating in an attack at a train station in southwestern China, in this still image taken from video September 12, 2014.   REUTERS/CCTV via Reuters TV
 
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