Sattar Sawut and Shirzat Bawudun are the latest of many Xinjiang bureaucrats, almost all members of the Muslim Turkic Uyghur minority group, to be sentenced on national security charges in what China calls a campaign against "two-faced officials" who are seeking to undermine Chinese rule from within the system.
The court on Tuesday said Sattar Sawut, the the former head of the regional education department, "incorporated ethnic separatism, violence, terrorism, and religious extremism content into minority-language textbooks." Shirzat Bawudun met with ETIM representatives and encouraged others to join the group, Wang said. He also "carried out illegal religious activities at his daughter's wedding" and accepted bribes totalling 11.12 million yuan , Wang said.
China denies any abuses, saying the centres were aimed at teaching job skills and deradicalizing those influenced by anti-Chinese jihadi teachings. It says its policies have prevented any new terrorist attacks taking place for more than four years.