2014-08-13
Ilham Tohti in Beijing, August 2012.
Photo courtesy of Ilham Tohti
A lawyer representing Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, detained on charges of separatism, says the evidence he has been allowed to review by the prosecution so far is incomplete, while Chinese authorities in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang have yet to clarify whether he will be tried in secret.
Tohti’s lawyer Li Fangping said he was invited by the Urumqi City Intermediate People’s Court on Tuesday to review the files of evidence against his client.
However, he tweeted via social media, some of the evidence was missing from the materials given to him.
“One issue was that we were unable to get a copy of the video evidence used in this case (footage from classrooms inside the National Minorities University) while the case was with the prosecution,” Li wrote.