Policemen in riot gear guard a checkpoint on a road near a courthouse where ethnic Uighur academic Ilham Tohti’s trial is taking place in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Sept. 17, 2014.
September 18, 2014 2:38 AM
Chinese scholar Ilham Tohti is expected to defend himself Thursday against separatism charges at the second day of his trial in the restive region of Xinjiang.
Tohti, an economics professor, is a member of the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority group, which he says is suffering persecution at the hands of China.
One of Tohti’s lawyers, Li Fangping, told VOA on Wednesday his client rejected the separatism charges, saying the testimony against him was not trustworthy.
“Many of the testimonies were illogical, and that was why we raised doubts. Why were the organizers and members of the secessionist forces brought separately to trial? The security forces have investigated the case as a group of eight secessionists, but [split their trials]. Ilham was also very annoyed about it. And in this respect, there was no justice in the trial,” said Li.