Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS May 20, 1997

Urumqi Xinjiang Ribao in Chinese, 05/08/97

26 Apr 97 p 1

"Ili Prefecture Intermediate People's Court and Ili City People's Court

Hold a Public Judgment Pronouncement Meeting To Sternly Pass Judgment

on the First Group of Offenders Involved in the '5 February' Riot

Involving Beating, Smashing, and Looting That Seriously Endangered

National Security; Three Offenders Are Sentenced to Death; One to Life

Imprisonment; and 26 to Imprisonment Ranging From Seven to 18 Years"

On the morning of 24 April, the Ili Prefectural Intermediate People's

Court and the Ili City People's Court held a grand meeting at the Ili

Prefectural Stadium to pronounce public judgment, where stern verdicts

were meted out to the first group of criminal offenders who engaged in

beating, smashing, and looting in the "5 February" riot, which

seriously endangered national security.

At the meeting, 30 criminal offenders involved in 18 cases were

pronounced guilty. Of the offenders, three people, Yusufu Duersun,

Aishan Maimaiti, and Yibulayin Kasenmu, were sentenced to death for

crimes ranging from causing injury, arson, hooliganism, beating people,

smashing property, and looting; Xiernali Shadeke was sentenced to life

imprisonment for the crime of hooliganism; and 26 other criminal

offenders received imprisonment sentences ranging from seven to 18

years.

A riot involving beating, smashing, and looting that seriously

endangered national security occurred in Ili city on 5 and 6 February

this year. The riot endangered the lives and property of local people

and undermined the normal public order. Those who were sentenced at

the public judgment pronouncement meeting were the first group of

offenders involved in the "5 February" incident.

Attending the grand meeting were more than 5,000 people of various

circles from Ili city, including the principal leaders of the Ili

Autonomous Prefecture, Ili Prefecture, Ili city, the Fourth

Agricultural Division of the Xinjiang Production-Construction Corps,

and People's Armed Police units stationed in Ili. Also attending the

grand meeting were leaders of the Ili autonomous prefectural, Ili

prefectural, and Ili city political and legal committees and public

security, procuratorial, and judicial departments.

Kuerbanjiang Maimaiti, deputy secretary of the Ili prefectural party

committee and commissioner of the prefecture, addressed the

pronouncement meeting. He said: A handful of criminal offenders,

ignoring state laws and openly making themselves the enemy of the

people, frenziedly carried out beating, smashing, and looting by

resorting to violent and terrorist means. They burned vehicles and

houses and killed public security police and police officers and

innocent people, committing unpardonable crimes, seriously threatening

national security and the lives and property of the people, seriously

interfering with and undermining the political situation of unity and

stability, and adversely affecting the excellent situation of reform

and opening up to the outside world.

Kuerbanjiang Maimaiti stressed that to protect national security; the

lives and property of the people; the fundamental interests of the

people of all ethnic groups; and develop the excellent situation of

reform, opening up to the outside world, and the modernization drive,

we must take facts as the basis and the law as the criterion and

punish, severely and on a timely basis, all types of criminals who

seriously endanger national security, so as to resolutely safeguard

political and social stability.