Chinese security forces after the riots in Xinjiang

CHINA: SIX MORE SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER CLASHES IN XINJIANG

October 15, 2009: China sentenced six more people to death over bloody ethnic unrest in its far-western Xinjiang region in July, bringing the total to 12. Three of the six were given the death penalty with a two-year reprieve, a sentence usually commuted to life in prison.
A court in the regional capital Urumqi sentenced three others to life in jail and five people to lesser prison terms for their role in the unrest that rocked the city, according to a Xinjiang government statement faxed to AFP.
A total of 21 defendants have been tried and convicted since October 12 of murder and other crimes such as intentional damage to property, arson, and robbery.
Six Uighurs were given the death penalty on October 12 and another sent to prison for life.
On October 15, one man with a Han Chinese name - Han Junbo - was among those sentenced to death for beating a Uighur man to death, the statement said.
Another apparently Han man, Liu Bo, was given a 10-year jail term.
Six of the other defendants had names that appeared to be Uighur, and the rest were not immediately identified, according to the government statement.
One of those sentenced to death, apparently a Uighur, was found guilty of beating two people to death with another defendant, as well as stealing people's possessions, including mobile phones and bracelets.
Aside from the 21 tried this week, police have also detained around 700 people suspected of crimes related to the unrest, earlier reports have said. (Sources: AFP, 15/10/2009)