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Uygur teacher Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life in prison for separatism in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Tuesday.
The Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi gave the verdict, depriving Tohti of his political rights for life and confiscating his personal property.
The court heard that the former teacher at Beijing's Minzu University of China spread lessons containing separatist thoughts via the website, Uygur Online. He coerced students to work for the website and built a criminal syndicate, according to the ruling.
Tohti organized the group to write, edit, translate and reprint articles seeking Xinjiang's separation from China.
The articles attacked China's ethnic, religious, economic and family planning policies, and incited ethnic hatred by distorting the causes of a number of riots and disputes that occurred in Xinjiang and Beijing, the court statement said.
It said using his website, Tohti encouraged fellow Uygurs to use violence. He colluded with foreign groups and individuals in hyping incidents related to Xinjiang with the aim of making domestic issues international.
Relatives of the defendant were present at the sentencing.
Ilham Tohti was prosecuted by the People's Procuratorate of Urumqi in late July for separatism. A public trial was held by the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi last week, with two lawyers for the defendant.
Police authorities said in January a meticulous investigation had proved that Tohti formed a separatist group and undertook separatist activities under the disguise of his identity.
The sentence came two days after a series of explosions killed two people and injured a number of others in several locations of Xinjiang's Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture.
The number of terror-related gangs busted in Xinjiang increased from about 140 in 2010 to more than 200 last year, according to regional authorities.
Since last year, terrorists have launched attacks in Xinjiang as well as Beijing and the southwestern city of Kunming, causing heavy casualties.
In late July, 37 civilians were killed and another 13 injured in a terrorist attack in Shache County, Kashgar Prefecture in Xinjiang. Police gunned down 59 terrorists and arrested 215 others. This was preceded by an attack on a market in Urumqi, Xinjiang's regional capital, in May, which left 31 dead and 94 injured.
On October 28 last year, a jeep crashed at downtown Beijing's Tian'anmen Square, causing five deaths and 40 injuries. Police found gasoline, two knives and steel sticks as well as a flag with extremist content in the jeep. Police later identified the deadly crash as a violent terrorist attack.
