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.
Prosecutors in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, where Tohti is held, announced his indictment in a statement posted online. Once charged, conviction is all but certain, particularly in such a high-profile case. Separatism charges in theory carry the death penalty, though they usually result in imprisonment.
Tohti’s daughter Jewher Ilham, who is studying in the US, said: “I am angry about this, they have not followed the legal path. My father was only trying to foster a dialogue. What they have charged him with is untrue.”
Tohti’s lawyer Li Fangping, who was not allowed to see his client until June, said: “I just saw online that Ilham Tohti’s case has been transferred to the court and it is quite shocking. Urumqi’s procuratorate has not replied to our verbal or written requests, which are both legitimate and justifiable, for copies of audio-visual material.
“The procuratorate has failed to follow the proper procedure of informing the defence lawyer of their decision to formally charge Ilham Tohti with separatism. I am very shocked by the procuratorate’s lack of respect for the right to a defence.”
