China: Xinjiang Riot Suspects to Face Trial

In China the state-controlled China Daily reported on Monday (August 24) that more than 200 people will go on trial this week. It’s for their alleged involvement in the Xinjiang riots that broke out last month.

The death toll still remains ambiguous in what’s been called China’s worst ethnic violence in decades. Chinese authorities claim 197 people, mostly Han Chinese, died in the riots—but Uighur groups say at least 400 Uighurs were killed, and mostly by security forces.

Security forces remain high in the region and are expected to increase during the trials, China Daily said.

Information provided by Chinese officials on the preparations for the trials has been vague—and at times contradictory.

And later on Monday, the China Daily article was pulled from the paper’s website.

An official at the Urumqi intermediate people’s court confirmed that the court would handle riot cases, but told the Associated Press he did not know when they would start.

(NTDTV)