China: separatism in Ukraine = we can live with that; separatism in China = life sentence

[pampango]

China gives moderate Uighur scholar life in prison on charge of advocating separatism

China sentenced prominent Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti to life in prison Tuesday on charges of advocating separatism and inciting ethnic hatred, criticizing the government and voicing support for terrorism. It was a surprisingly harsh verdict that critics said made a mockery of the country’s legal system and underlined the government’s brutal repression of dissent.

The verdict shocked Tohti’s friends, scholars and activists. Tohti is widely respected abroad as a moderate voice within China’s minority Uighur community; throughout his two-day trial in the city of Urumqi last week, he insisted that he always has opposed separatism and that he had spent his life trying to promote better relations between Uighurs and China’s Han majority.

The White House, in a statement, called for Tohti’s release. “We stress the importance of Chinese authorities differentiating between peaceful dissent and violent extremism,” it said. “We believe that civil society leaders like Ilham Tohti play a vital role in reducing the sources of inter-ethnic tension in China, and should not be persecuted for peacefully expressing their views.”

All of Tohti’s personal property was confiscated, a ruling sure to make life even more difficult for his wife and two young sons, ages 8 and 5. Tohti, who had listened to the verdict calmly, jumped up and shouted, “I object, I protest,” when the sentence was announced, but was led away swiftly without being allowed to talk to his family, Li said.

“This is so thorough and transparent a miscarriage of justice as to take one’s breath away,” said Elliot Sperling, an expert on Tibet at Indiana University and a friend of Tohti’s. “By no stretch of the imagination — even the authoritarian imagination — could this be considered a fair trial. The severity of the sentence stands in inverse proportion to the substance of the charges.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/china-sentences-moderate-uighur-scholar-to-life-in-prison-for-separatism/2014/09/23/81bfb08c-e6a3-4c7e-ba27-78d0a1656cdf_story.html

Of course, there are two kinds of separatism. One happens somewhere else and one that happens in your own country. Russia, too, has recently passed laws against separatism there despite its support of separatism in neighboring Ukraine.