A Chinese court has issued a suspended death sentence to former directors of the Xinjiang Education Department for charges, including writing and publishing school textbooks he said were designed to divide the country.
Sattar Sawut and his deputy, Shirzat Bawudun, were sentenced to two years in prison, while five other Uyghur men, including editors, were sentenced to long prison terms, according to state media.
The date of the convictions and sentences is unknown, but was revealed in a state media film released last week amid a PR offensive by the Chinese government that repelled international criticism of its abuse in the Xinjiang region.
In the Chinese legal system, a death sentence with a sentence of up to 25 years can be converted, or life imprisonment, pending good behavior.
Sattar is accused of building a team and planning with his deputy to include “bloody, violent, terrorist and separatist ideas” in the 13-year-old primary and high school textbooks, the state news agency said. Xinhua said.
The books in question date back to 2003, but in 2016 the content was considered ‘separatist’ by Xinjiang authorities and fueled ethnic hatred.
The son of Yalqun Rozi, one of the convicted editors, and who was first arrested in 2016, said the charges were “absurd”.
“These textbooks have been approved by the state,” Kamaltürk Yalqun told the Associated Press. “China is trying to erase history and write a new narrative.”
The court did not publish his verdict or other documents, and the state media did not set out what problems he saw in the texts. A People’s Daily article said on Wednesday it was found that a total of 84 texts in a 2003 and a 2009 issue in ethnic languages influenced several named individuals to take part in the 2009 Urumqi riots and a bombing in 2014 at Urumqi train station.
The People’s Daily report said: “By changing and distorting history, [Sattar and his co-accused] try to instill separatist ideas in students, increase national hatred and achieve the goal of dividing the motherland. ”
South China Morning Post quoted the CGTN film to describe some sections and images in the textbook that referred to a chapter in Xinjiang history from the 1940s and the short-lived government of the Eastern Turkestan Republic, or what clashes between Uyghur fighters and Han soldiers during the same period.
Yalqun told the AP the sections were about historical stories that had nothing to do with terrorism, and the prosecutions were aimed at cultural destruction and assimilation.
“Because these textbooks are rich in Uyghur culture, China has targeted them,” Yalqun said. “They are moving in the direction of completely eliminating Uyghurse language teaching and culture.”
Sattar, who was also convicted of bribery-related offenses, was deprived of political rights for life and his property confiscated.
The persecution comes amid increasing repression of Uyghur and other Muslims from ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region. It is believed that more than 1 million people have been interned in re-education camps, and there is evidence from authorities implementing labor transfer programs, as well as systemic rape and torture, forced sterilization of women, separation of children and mass murder and intimidation. Leading Uyghur academics and other public figures have been arrested.
The US government and some legal groups have declared the Chinese government’s action against the group a genocide.
As international outrage increases and is increasingly coordinated in the implementation of sanctions and other measures against the perpetrators, Beijing has increased its denial of abuse and mistreatment, launching multi-platform PR campaigns, ranging from choreographed press conferences abroad to a musical released in the country. depicting a wonderful life in Xinjiang.
Chinese diplomats have made hostile communications online and with foreign counterparts, targeting and smearing Uyghur women who have spoken publicly about their trials.