A priest who support the controversial Beijing treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority was stabbed to death outside the biggest mosque in Xinjiang region.

A priest who support the controversial Beijing treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority was stabbed to death outside the biggest mosque in Xinjiang region.

According to officials and local residents, Jume Tahir 74-year-old was attacked on Wednesday morning at the Id Kah mosque 600 years old in Kashgar, Xinjiang's capital.

Tahir is a member of the National People's Congress, China's parliament is more ceremonial. He often criticized what he called the "sabotage and separatism" in Xinjiang, where hundreds of people have died in unrest last year.

Many Uighurs consider the violence as a desperate response to the prohibitions imposed by the government violently towards religious life of Muslims as well as what was perceived as preferential treatment for ethnic Han majority, who have flocked to the area.

Beijing denies Uighurs treat residents with bad. This attitude seems to be approved by Tahir. In 2009, he told the official Chinese news agency Xinhua that the religious beliefs of Muslims fully protected.

The government did not comment on the murder of Tahir, who first reported by Radio Free Asia. This murder occurred two days after a knife fight between armed gangs and Chinese police killed a number of people outside of Kashgar.

Allegations of human rights organization slams Uighur separatism against Scholars

Rights organizations called on China to release a prominent Uyghur scholar who has been charged with dividing the country.

Prosecutors on Wednesday formally indicted Ilham Tohti, who often criticized China's harsh treatment of the Uighur minority. Tohti, aged 44 years and taught economics at the Central University for Nationalities, Beijing, was arrested in January.

Since his detention, state media calling Tohti as the "brains" behind the terrorist activity in the region of China. But the comments and a lot of interviews with the foreign media does not indicate that it supports separatism.

In a statement, Human Rights Watch revealed no evidence Tohti ignite violence or other crimes. New York-based organization stated very disturbed because Tohti charged with separatism, which carries the death penalty.

The Uyghur American Association called the charges ridiculous separatism and not sure Tohti be judged honestly.


In Washington, State Department spokesman Marie Harf urged Beijing to immediately release Tohti. VOA