Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS April 29, 1997

The following report is a correction to that posted on April 28 issue of WUNN

[ETIC, 4/25/97] ETIC has received the following information on the

incident with the BBC crew that was recently detained and expelled from

Eastern Turkistan by the Chinese authorities.

The BBC team entered China with tourist visas from Kazakstan, and

arrived to Ghulje (Yining) city on Wednesday, April 9. Apparently,

they had been followed by the Chinese secret police from the border to

Ghulje.

The main goal of the crew was to collect materials for a documentary

for the British TV program Correspondent on the situation in the city

after the recent violent ethnic clashes between the Uyghurs and the

Chinese police.

< CORRECTED SENTENCE >

The team consisted of a BBC correspondent Julie Flint, film producer

Farah Durrani, cameraman Mr. Duxbury, and Rosa, a member of the Kazak

service of BBC.

After arrival to Ghulje, the team managed to make some video taping and

interviews with the local people.

On Friday evening, the Chinese police detained the team and confiscated

all the materials collected by the crew. The police treated the

journalists with rudeness; the Kazak woman was even hit. After several

hours of interrogation, the arrested were forced to admit being British

correspondents. The whole process of the arrest and interrogation was

video taped by the Chinese police. After 10 days under arrest, the

journalists were expelled to Pakistan.

There have been reports that, after the crew was expelled from China,

the Chinese police conducted the large number of arrests among the

Uyghurs. Giving an interview to a foreign correspondent could be a

reson for imprisonment in Eastern Turkistan.

On April 24, the Chinese authorities organized a medieval intimidation

show for the Uyghurs in Ghulje. 27 people were given long term

sentences, and three Uyghurs were publicly executed on a stadium in

Ghulje. There are reports that a group of Uyghurs attempted to free

the convicted while they were toured around the city with placards

describing their crimes; the police opened fire killing two rescuers.

The curfew is still imposed in the city. Overall, the situation in the

city is described as terrifying. [Rakhim Aitbayev, Denver]