Tohti’s lawyer accuses prosecutors of ‘shocking’ handling of case and ignoring his rights to a defence
Tania Branigan in Beijing
theguardian.com, Wednesday 30 July 2014 13.08 EDT
Ilham Tohti. Photograph: Andy Wong/AP
China has indicted the outspoken Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti on charges of separatism, prosecutors have announced.
Tohti, who has been detained since January, was not informed of the latest move directly, according to his lawyer, who accused authorities of “shocking” handling of the case and ignoring Tohti’s rights to a defence.
Supporters of the economics professor say he has not advocated independence for the north-western region of Xinjiang and that the case against him is retaliation for criticising government policies and questioning official accounts of violence in or related to the region.
Before he was seized at his home in Beijing, Tohti was a rare voice for Uighur dissatisfaction within China. Beijing says it respects local identity and has invested heavily in the region to boost living standards, but many in the Muslim Uighur community are unhappy at cultural and religious restrictions, Han migration and development that they believe has benefited others more than them. Han Chinese make up almost 92% of the country’s population.