8/14/2019 Thesun 2009-08-25 Page12 200 to Face Trial in China for Xinjiang Unrest

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news without borders12 theSun | TUESDAY AUGUST 25 200 9

200 to face trialin

China for Xinjiang unrBEIJING: China is expected toput more than 200 people on trialthis week for alleged involvement in deadly unrest in the countrysnorthwest Muslim-majority regionof Xinjiang, state media said yes-terday. The trials will take place inthe Intermediate Peoples Court inUrumqi, the regional capital shakenby violence in early July that cost thelives of at least 197, the China Daily reported, citing unnamed ofcials.

The more than 200 defendantshave all been formally arrested,marking a steep increase from the83 formal arrests so far made pub-lic by authorities, according to thepaper.

Both court officials and pros-ecutors declined to comment whencontacted. A city government ofcialsurnamed Ma said he had no infor-

mation so far about the trials.The violence that broke out in

Urumqi on July 5 pitted Han Chineseagainst Uighurs, a Turkic-speakingand predominantly Muslim people,in the worst ethnic unrest to hit thecountry in decades. The defendantswill face charges ranging from dis-rupting trafc to murder, the papersaid, meaning that some of themcould be given the death penalty.

The paper did not say how manyof the defendants were Uighurs.However, it reported that more than170 Uighur and 20 Han lawyers hadbeen assigned, suggesting that thebulk were members of the minoritygroup.

Prosecutors have prepared morethan 3,300 items of physical evidencefor the trial, including bricks andclubs stained with blood, 91 video

clips and more than 2,150 photos,the paper said. Armed police havestarted around-the-clock patrols inthe area near the court building,as security builds up ahead of thetrials, the paper said.

Many bereaved Han familieswill come to wait for the verdicts,and the authorities fear they mayclash with any Uighur in their pres-ence, said Guo Mei, a saleswomanwho works near the court.

The paper reported intensepublic interest in the trials, whichwill all be public, except from thosedealing with splitting the state.

Id be very angry if those riotersreceive light sentences or escape

justice, said an unnamed worker.They should be given harsh penal-ties for causing the loss of so manyinnocent lives. AFP

VANCOUVER: A reality TV

contestant suspected ofkilling his swimsuit-modelex-wife in the United Stateswas found dead on Sunday ina Canadian hotel room, localmedia reported.

Ryan Alexander Jenkins,32, was charged in theUnited States with murderlast Thursday after days ofbeing considered a personof interest in the gruesomekilling of 28-year-old JasmineFiore of Los Angeles.

The models mutilatedbody was found inside asuitcase in a dumpster morethan a week ago.

Her fingers and teethhad been removed, and au-thorities identied her by theserial number on her breastimplants.

Jenkins, a Canadian whorecently vied with 16 othercontestants on the VH1 tel-evision show Megan Wants

a Millionaire , was the subject

of an international manhunt,according to Tom Monson,police chief in Buena Park, asuburb of Los Angeles.

Police believe he mayhave crossed the Canadianborder from a remote areain northwestern Washingtonstate, abandoning his black2003 BMW SUV and an emptyboat trailer at a boat launchin Blaine, Washington, andtraveling over water to PointRoberts, then on foot intoCanada.

Authorities believe he haded to Canada to escape thedeath penalty.

The media report saidJenkins had been found deadin a hotel room in Hope,British Columbia, and that itappeared he had taken his

own life.He said hotel staff discov-ered the body and alertedlocal authorities. AFP

Pranksters glueman totoilet seatSYDNEY: Australian police andcivic leaders yesterday appealedfor help to catch pranksters whoglued a man to a public toiletseat, forcing an embarrassingrescue by ambulance ofcers.

A 58-year-old was taken tohospital with the toilet seat stillattached to his behind after heused a booby-trapped toilet ina shopping centre in Cairns onSaturday.

Police investigating the inci-dent made a public appeal forhelp to nd the joker. Police saidhospital staff removed the toiletseat from the humiliated victimsbehind using industrial strengthsolvents. AFP

Second Obamaappears in Russiaelection: ReportMOSCOW: A second candidateof African origin has registeredfor local elections in Russiaafter the candidacy of a mandubbed the Russian Obamashocked observers, the Trudnewspaper said yesterday.

Filip Kondratyev, 34, has putforward his name for electionsto be held in October for thehead of the Srednyaya Akhtubadistrict of Russias southern Vol-gograd region, the daily said.

His appearance in the racecame after the candidacy of

Joaquim Crima, 37, a Guinea-Bissau native who was dubbedthe Russian Obama in themedia after the US president.

Unlike Crima, constructionmanager Kondratyev was bornin the Moscow region and is of mixed race, being the son of aRussian mother and a Ghana-ian diplomat, Trud said. AFP

Smuggled elephant

tusks hiddenunder snail shellsHANOI: Vietnamese customsinspectors have discovered morethan two tonnes of elephant tusks

briefs

Suspect wanted inmurder of modelfound dead in Canada

hidden in a shipping container fullof snail shells from Kenya, an ofcialsaid yesterday. Bui Hoang Duong,head of the customs inspectiondepartment at the northern port ofHaiphong, said inspectors openedthe container on Friday as part ofenhanced scrutiny of shippingfrom Tanzania.

The elephant tusks were cutinto three to four pieces and hid-den in the middle of thousands ofpackages of snail shells. A total of326 pieces of ivory were found inthe container. dpa

New interrogationteam approvedby ObamaWASHINGTON: US PresidentBarack Obama has approvedthe creation of an elite teamof interrogators to questionkey terrorism suspects, TheWashington Post reportedyesterday.

Citing unnamed senioradministration officials, thenewspaper said the decisionwas part of a broader effortto revamp US policy on deten-tion and interrogation. Obamasigned off on the unit, namedthe High-Value Detainee Inter-rogation Group (HIG) late lastweek, the report said.

It will be made up of ex-

perts from several intelligenceand law enforcement agenciesand housed at the FBI, thepaper noted. AFP

Moves to quellrevolt overanti-smacking lawWELLINGTON: New ZealandPrime Minister John Key moved

yesterday to defuse a publicrevolt over a law which bans thesmacking of children.

Preliminary results releasedon Friday from a referendumshowed 87.6% of those who tookpart wanted changes to a 2007law which removed the right ofparents to use reasonable forceto discipline their children.

Key said the so-called anti-smacking law was workingand would remain, but that hewould add safeguards to reas-sure parents they would not beprosecuted for trivial assaultson their children. AFP

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