Six men have been sentenced to death for committing murder and other crimes during the July the 5th riot in Urumqi, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Another person has been sentenced to life in prison. The sentences were handed down on Monday at the City Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi.

 

The seven were the first to be sentenced over the riot, which left 197 people dead and more than 1,600injured in Urumqi.

Six men who were convicted of murder and other crimes were condemned to death in a first-instance trial. Another person was sentenced to life in prison.

All seven men had been convicted of murder, and several were also convicted of arson or robbery.

Abdukerim Abduwayit killed five people in just two hours in different locations with a dagger and a pipe wrench. He also set fire to a downtown building, forcing 13 people to jump off the structure and causing an economic loss of more than 260-thousand yuan.

In the second case, four rioters including Gheni Yusup and Abdulla Mettohti beat four people to death and injured another. They also smashed and looted shops and vehicles.

In addition, Abdulla Mettohti and others set a grain and oil shop ablaze, killing all five family members who were hiding inside and causing an economic loss of 1.37 million yuan. The victims were aged between 12 to 82.

In the third case, Alim Metyusup and Tayirejan Abulimit together killed three people and seriously injured one person. They also robbed the victims of their mobile phones.

Alim Metyusup was sentenced to death for the murder of two people and for setting fire to houses, resulting in an economic loss of more than 50 thousand yuan.