From: amnesty@amnesty.oil.ca
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 14:01:11 -0500
Message-Id: <200003101901.OAA30944@amnesty.oil.ca>
To: amnesty-L@oil.ca
Subject: CHINA: Uighur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer sentenced to eight years' after secret trial 
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* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
News Service 47/00
AI INDEX: ASA 17/10/00
10 March 2000

China

Uighur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer sentenced to eight years' after
secret trial

Amnesty International has just received reports that Rebiya Kadeer was
sentenced yesterday to eight years' imprisonment. The secret trial is
reported to have been held in the morning of 9 March at the Urumqi City
Intermediate People's Court, in the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur
Autonomous Region (XUAR).

Rebiya Kadeer is believed to have been legally represented but no member
of her family was permitted to attend the trial and none of the nine
people present in the court was of Uighur nationality. No official
announcement has been made by the Chinese government.

"The harsh sentence passed on Rebiya Kadeer, if confirmed, appears to be
in line with the serious human rights crackdown which continues in XUAR
and throughout China," Amnesty International said today.

"Rebiya Kadeer should not have been detained in the first place. She has
not committed any crime. She is a prisoner of conscience who should be
immediately released," the organization added.

Amnesty International is calling on the Chinese government to disclose
information about the trial, the proceedings followed and the evidence
against her.

Background
Rebiya Kadeer has been held since 11 August 1999. She was detained in
Urumqi while trying to keep an appointment with a group from the United
States Congressional Research Service. In September 1999 she was charged
with "providing secret information to foreigners", but her case was
reportedly referred to Beijing before she was indicted on 21 February
2000, under Article 111 of the Chinese Criminal Law. To date she has
been held at the Liudaowan jail where prisoners are known to have been
tortured and ill-treated. Rebiya Kadeer is reported to be in poor health
as a result of her detention.

A well-known businesswoman and mother of ten, in 1997 Rebiya Kadeer
formed the "Thousand Mother's Movement" in XUAR. She was formerly a
member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and in
1995 was part of China's official delegation to the UN Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing.
ENDS.../
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,
WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
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