China’s repressive policies against Uighurs, a minority, were on shocking display recently when Ilham Tohti, a scholarly defender of his people’s human rights, was sentenced to life in prison for “separatism” — his entirely reasonable and far from violent criticisms of the central government.
The two-day trial of Mr. Tohti, an internationally respected advocate for ethnic autonomy, was a vindictive sham that drew worldwide protest. “It’s not just! It’s not just!” he was heard to shout as he was taken from the courtroom. His life sentence, one of the harshest in recent years for a political dissident in China, was made even more shameful by the confiscation of his assets — a move directed at punishing his wife and young children.[Source]