A court in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Tuesday sentenced secessionist Ablikim Abdiriyim to nine years in prison on charges of instigating and engaging in secessionist activities.

Ablikim Abdiriyim was also deprived of his political rights for three years, according to a verdict of the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi.

The verdict said Ablikim Abdiriyim had spread secessionist articles over the Internet, turned the public against the Chinese government and written articles which distorted China's human rights and ethnic policies.

It said on July 17, 2004, Ablikim Abdiriyim emailed two articles he had downloaded from the Internet entitled "Issues to be aware of and prohibited in Jihad" and "Struggle toward Independence" to the Uygur-language webmaster of Yahoo.Com, asking it to publish the articles online.

It also said that on April 2004, Ablikim Abdiriyim, along with his brother Alimu Abdiriyim and Roxingul Kadeer, circulated the rumor that the government was going to close down Rebiya Building Co. Ltd, a company named after his mother Rebiya Kadeer.

Rebiya Kadeer, a former businesswoman in China, was detained in 1999 on charges of harming national security. She was released on bail on March 17, 2005 so she could seek medical treatment and left for the United States.

The court document said Ablikim Abdiriyim, Alimu Abdiriyim and Roxingul Kadeer, under the instruction of Rebiya Kadeer, had made plans to distribute 450 copies of written proposals and slogans in an attempt to stir up public protest against the local government.

The verdict also said the three people, instructed by Rebiya Kadeer and Sidikaji Rozi, Ablikim Abdiriyim's stepfather, also wrote an article which distorted China's human rights system and ethnic policies.

On May 28, 2006, Ablikim Abdiriyim emailed the article to his mother and stepfather in the United States and then, at the request of his mother, rewrote the article and planed to give it to some overseas visitors who were going to Xinjiang, the court said.

Ablikim Abdiriyim had confessed to the charges during the trial.

Ablikim Abdiriyim's legal rights were protected during the trial and the information concerning the time and venue of the trial was publicized three days beforehand.

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2007)