7,000 attend public hearing to sentence 55 criminals

Authorities in Ili prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region hold a public hearing Tuesday at a stadium to pronounce sentences for 55 involved in terrorist activities. Photo: China News Service

Authorities in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have acted in a high-profile manner in the ongoing anti-terror campaign through daily raids and public pronouncement of sentences, in an effort to deter offenders.

Police caught five suspects and seized 1.8 tons of material for explosive devices in south Xinjiang's Hotan prefecture on Monday, the Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday.

The report said the alleged terror and extremist group was led by Abliz Dawut. Suspects allegedly watched and listened to terror videos and audio before making explosive devices.

Dawut and his gang members are suspected of making explosive devices the night after the terror attack on a market in Urumqi on May 22 and premeditating a similar terror attack in crowded locations in Hotan, the report said.

The raid was part of Xinjiang's one-year anti-terrorism campaign, which started Friday, the day after the attack in Urumqi. The campaign considers Xinjiang to be the major battleground and will last until June 2015.

Similar raids were carried out in Aksu, Kashi and Ili prefectures on Monday. Suspects were arrested for allegedly being involved in terrorist attacks, while knives and materials for explosive devices were seized.

Twenty-three terror and religious extremist groups were busted and more than 200 suspects were caught in May in Hotan, Kashi and Aksu, the regional public security department said on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Ili prefecture held a public hearing at a sports venue, which was attended by more than 7,000 residents.

The local court handed out sentences to 55 criminals, who were convicted of intentional homicide, splitting the country, or organizing and taking part in terrorist activities.

Meanwhile, the local public security department announced the arrests of 38 suspects and the detention of 27 others.

The public hearing shows the firm determination of the prefecture to strike against terrorism, Li Minghui, the deputy secretary of the prefecture's Party committee, said at the hearing.

Pan Zhiping, director of the Institute of Central Asia at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that he thinks following the Urumqi attack, the anti-terrorism campaign has now reached a new level in China.

"It's necessary to deploy forces at major cities, train stations and squares, while Xinjiang is the major battleground in the fight against terrorism," he said.

Legal, procuratorial and public security authorities in Xinjiang issued a joint statement on Saturday, calling for criminals who are involved in terrorist activities to surrender for lenient punishments.

Spreading video and audio files through the Internet has become a new way of recruiting people to terrorist groups and organizing attacks.

In 2013, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), listed by the United Nations Security Council as a terrorist group, produced 107 terror videos and audio files, some of which were spread to China, Xinhua quoted Nuriman Rozi, a senior police officer with the regional public security department, as saying.

Pan said video and audio is passed around on 3G phones.

"The videos are usually propaganda for the 'Holy War,' they advertise violence, teach people how to make bombs and spread rumors, whenever something happens in Xinjiang," he said.

Xu Jianying, a research fellow at the Research Center for Chinese Borderland History and Geography at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the way to prevent video and audio from spreading is to enact regulations and strengthen management of the Internet, as well as educating people about the consequences of breaking the law.