Seven students who worked for a website run by Ilham Tohti, a former lecturer from the Minzu University of China, stood trial on Tuesday in Urumqi, capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Tohti's lawyer confirmed with the Global Times.

They are charged with separatism, the same crime Tohti was convicted of in September, according to Li Fangping, one of Tohti's attorneys.

The trial allegedly started on Tuesday at 10:30 am at the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi.

Six students, Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat, Mutellip Imin, Abduqeyyum Ablimit, Atikem Rozi and Akbar Imin, are of Uyghur ethnicity. The final student, Luo Yuwei, is from the Yi ethnic minority group. They allegedly worked as administrators at Uyghur Online, a website founded by Tohti.

According to previous police reports, Tohti used Uyghur Online as a platform to recruit and manipulate others into spreading rumors, distorting and hyping issues to create conflicts, spread separatist thinking, incite ethnic hatred and advocate "Xinjiang independence."

Several students who faced trial on Tuesday have openly testified against Tohti on TV. Shohret Nijat, a former student from the Renmin University of China, previously told China Central Television (CCTV) that while he was working at the website, Tohti demanded that he change the title of an article depicting an anti-separatism convention to "brainwashing convention."

Nijat said Tohti wanted every article on Uyghur Online to reflect the website's stance, which was that, in Nijat's words, "whatever the government says it's white, we will paint it black."

Perhat Halmurat and Luo Yuwei also testified against Tohti on CCTV.

Li said the students could be sentenced to five years to 15 years in prison.

The trial came after the High People's Court of Xinjiang upheld the verdict of Tohti on Friday in Urumqi.

Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment for separatism. He lodged an appeal in September.

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