China: Uighur website editor given seven-year prison sentence

March 11th, 2011

Tursunjan Hezim, Uighur editor of well known website Bilik, has reportedly been given a seven-year prison sentence. The sentence was handed down for unknown charges at a secret trial in July 2010, but has only been made public now. Hezim had been in detention at a secret location since 2009, after ethnic riots broke out in the Chinese north-western region of Xinjiang.

China: Blanket media ban on Xinjiang bomb

August 27th, 2010

China’s Central Propaganda Department has placed a blanket ban on covering the explosion at Xinjiang, Western China, including the state-owned Xinhua News Agency who had allegedly already reported that the explosion was caused by a bomb. The explosion killed seven people in the Uighur Autonomous Region, on August 19. According to the International Journalists’ Federation, Chinese authorities are sensitive about reporting in this area as it was home to riots and ethnic tension in 2009.

Twitter blocked in Xinjiang

July 7th, 2009

Twitter and YouTube are among several sites that have been blocked in China’s Xinjiang province, as the authorities attempt to control rioting in the area. Read more here