Court records say convicted Uygur teacher preaches violence, separatism(2)

After it happened, Ilham Tohti published articles on WeChat, China's leading smartphone messaging platform, claiming that it was not a terrorist attack, the records said.

Ilham Tohti was prosecuted in late July for separatism. A public trial was held last week, with two lawyers for the defendant.

During the trial, Ilham Tohti denied all charges against him, arguing that he did not intend to split the country and the articles he published merely represent the academic point of views.

The records also showed that lawyers of the defendant raised questions over whether Ilham Tohti should be tried in Urumqi.

MANIPULATING OPINION POLLS

Ilham Tohti manipulated opinion polls, published false data on the website of Uygur Online, and quoted the results in the classroom to preach the independence of Xinjiang, said the records.

The Uygur teacher claimed that he had distributed questionnaires and conducted interviews in Xinjiang, Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin between 2009 and 2010.

But police investigation showed that he had never done research in the above places, nor sent out any questionnaire online.

According to the records, witnesses said Ilham Tohti fabricated the statistics. He stayed at home and did not have time to do the research during the period.

A video footage revealed that Ilham Tohti told his students that 13 percent of people supported Xinjiang independence, while 87 percent advocated autonomy. If without autonomy, most of them would support independence.

In the court, he repeatedly said he totally supported autonomy and hoped Xinjiang could stay in China in the form of federation.

Ilham Tohti and his lawyers did not provide any evidence that could prove he had conducted the opinion polls during the court.

A string of his comments, articles and acts revealed his purpose to disunite the country and preach Xinjiang independence, said Jia Yu, head of Northwest University of Politics and Law.

Ruan Qilin, a professor with China University of Political Science and Law, echoed this view.

"Freedom of speech does not mean you can break the law," he said. "Inciting violence and ethnic hatred are prohibited in the international society. It is a crime and should be punished."

Aygul Yakup, who attended the trial, said Ilham Tohti is a criminal of the nation. He formed a separatist group and undertook separatist activities under the disguise of his identity. "We must not be fooled by such separatists and keep fighting them."