Nine Arrested in Xinjiang for Illegal Preaching

China News Digest, 22 December 2001

[CND, 12/22/01] Police arrested nine Muslims for illegal preaching in Xinjiang, an autonomous region for the Uighur ethnic group, agencies reported.

According to a police officer Bayingolin Mongol county, the arrested translated the Koran into local languages and used it to preach the separatist cause. Investigations show these people were involved in illegal preaching more than 20 times this year, the officer added.

Recently, the central government has issued a notice that called for terrorists, separatists and religious extremists to surrender to police. The notice also stated that families and friends of such people will face criminal charges if they do not reveal their whereabouts.

For those people who reveal others, they will be given a high reward. For those who do not report, they should be punished on charges of harbouring criminals, stated the notice. For those people who reveal others, they will be given a high reward. For those who do not report, they should be punished on charges of harbouring criminals, the notice warned. (Dong LIU)