China's Xinjiang condemns genocide claims by "Uygur Tribunal"

BEIJING, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Officials and scholars from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as well as relatives of the "witnesses" at the so-called "Uygur Tribunal," Friday debunked and strongly condemned the fake claims of "genocide" put forward at the body's recent "hearing".

Elijan Anayat, a spokesperson of the Xinjiang regional government, said at a press conference in Beijing that the "Uygur Tribunal" employed presumption of guilt and fabricated evidence, and their so-called "witnesses" were nothing more than a few actors and actresses.

It is reported that the "Uygur Tribunal" held a "public hearing" in London in early June.

Marhaba Aolan, a scholar from Xinjiang University, told the press conference that the "Uygur Tribunal" is, in reality, a private company registered in Britain and is anything but a judicial organ.

"The 'tribunal' has no legal basis or effect according to relevant international laws, so its so-called 'verdicts' or 'rulings' are pieces of waste paper," she said.

She added that the largest contributor to the fund of the "tribunal" is the "World Uygur Congress," which has been plotting terrorist and separatist activities in concert with "East Turkistan" terrorist organizations. A further investigation showed that America's National Endowment for Democracy has also been one of the major funders of the "World Uygur Congress."

"The 'hearing' by the 'tribunal' is a total anti-China farce," she said.

At Friday's press conference, while officials and scholars questioned the credibility and legal standing of the "Uygur Tribunal," family members and friends of some "witnesses" also countered remarks made at the London "hearing".

Akbar Tursun, brother of Mihrigul Tursun, who claimed to have been tortured at a vocational education and training center at the "hearing", said nobody in their family had been to such a facility.

"My sister even said I was tortured to death in a training center. How on earth can a sister be like that?" he said.