MOSCOW, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - Eight people, who were convicted of terrorism, have been executed in the restive Chinese province of Xinjiang, Xinhua reports.
The executions were approved by the Supreme People's Court in the region. The news agency didn’t state when and where they took place.
Three of those convicted were found guilty of masterminding a deadly attack on the Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 2013. On October 28 last year, an SUV ploughed through a crowd near the Tiananmen Gate before crashing and bursting into flames. The incident left two tourists as well as three people in the car dead and 39 injured.
Five other people, who were executed, were found guilty of murdering government officials, police officers, and a civilian. Other charges included forming terrorist groups, setting police cars and checkpoints on fire, illegal manufacturing of explosive devices.
Chinese courts often sentence those charged with terrorism to death, the Financial Times points out.
All of the executed appear to be Uyghur. However, Chinese authorities have not confirmed that.
The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is home to the Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority in China but majority in the region, and the Han Chinese, the dominant ethnic group in the country.
Chinese authorities largely blame Uyghur Islamists for attacks claiming they seek to establish an independent state, known as East Turkestan, in the region. For their part, Uyghurs have continuously refuted accusations that they are behind the violence.
Human rights activists and Uyghurs living outside China claim that the operation, as well as other state policies aimed at improving security situation in the region will fail unless the real issues are addressed.
“It is both worrying and discouraging that China continues to apply increasing military pressure on Uyghurs in East Turkestan despite growing resentment in the region towards their illegal, repressive policies,” World Uighur Congress said in a statement published on its website.
In May, China launched a year-long antiterrorism campaign following an attack in Xinjiang capital of Urumqi amid the deteriorating security situation in the region. It was reported that the operation will last until June 2015 and is aimed at “preventing the spread of religious extremism” from Xinjiang to the rest of China, the country’s Ministry of Public Security said.
Another deadly attack took place in March. At least 29 innocent people died and more than 130 were injured in the assault on the Kunming Railway Station carried out by a dozen radicals armed with knives, according to Xinhua.
