Three executed over Kunming terrorist attack   

“3•01”昆明火车站严重暴恐案3名罪犯被执行死刑

据云南省昆明市中级人民法院官方微博“昆明市中级人民法院”消息，经最高人民法院核准，3月24日，云南省昆明市中级人民法院依法对“3•01”昆明火车站严重暴恐案中犯有组织、领导恐怖组织罪、故意杀人罪的被告人伊斯坎达尔·艾海提、吐尔洪·托合尼亚孜、玉山·买买提3名罪犯依法执行了死刑。[查看全文]

A Chinese court executed three men on Tuesday for leading a terrorist attack that killed 31 people at a railway station in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, last year.

Iskandar Ehet, Turgun Tohtunyaz and Hasayn Muhammad were executed upon approval by the Supreme People's Court, the Kunming Intermediate People's Court said.

The three were convicted and sentenced to death in September 2014 after being found guilty of organizing and leading a terrorist organization as well as murder. Their death penalties were upheld by the Yunnan Higher People's Court a month later.

A group of assailants armed with knives randomly attacked civilians at the railway station, causing 31 deaths and injuring another 141 on March 1, 2014. Police shot dead four of the attackers, wounded and captured a female suspect.

The female assailant, Patigul Tohti, who was pregnant when arrested, has been sentenced to life.

Investigators found that the three men had been training recruits for terrorist activities, including the attack at the Kunming railway station, since December 2013.

The three men were arrested when planning to illegally cross the Chinese border on Feb. 27 in the Shadian township of Yunnan. Two days later, five members of the group carried out the attack.

China has faced growing threats from terrorism in recent years.

Three people were killed and 39 others injured when a sports utility vehicle plowed into crowds near Tian'anmen Square in the heart of Beijing on Oct. 28, 2013.

In a more recent case, 40 rioters died in a series of planned bomb attacks in Luntai County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Sept. 21, 2014. Six civilians were killed and dozens injured in the terror attacks.

According to chief justice Zhou Qiang, Chinese courts convicted 712 people for instigating secessionist activities or participating in violent terrorist attacks in 2014, representing a year-on-year increase of 13.3 percent.(Updated)

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