Chinese police have gathered more than 3,000 new items of evidence to be used during trials of people charged with murder, arson and other crimes related to deadly rioting last month in the western region of Xinjiang, state media reported yesterday.
The collection of evidence is a step toward prosecuting those implicated in China’s worst ethnic violence in decades, in which the government says 197 people were killed and 1,700 injured.
The rioting in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, pitted Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs against members of China’s dominant Han ethnic group.
Among the 3,318 items of physical evidence collected are bricks and clubs stained with blood, the China Daily newspaper reported.
They also included 91 video clips and 2,169 photographs, it said.
Calls to the Urumqi police headquarters rang unanswered yesterday.
The report quoted a local judge as saying the trials were likely to start this month. Trials of Han would take place first, followed by those of Uighurs, it said.
Security forces will be on alert for new outbreaks of violence, it said.
The China Daily said 718 people had been detained on suspicion of taking part in the rioting and 83 had been formally arrested.
Earlier reports said at least 1,600 were detained. It wasn’t clear whether any had been released.
The riots broke out on July 5 after police stopped an initially peaceful protest by Uighur youths. Uighurs then smashed windows, burned cars and attacked Han. Two days later, the Han took to the streets and staged retaliatory attacks.
The violence underscored simmering resentment among many Uighurs over what they consider Chinese occupation of their land and strict controls over religion and cultural activities.
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