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BEIJING - China said Monday it had put to death nine people over deadly ethnic unrest in its far-western Xinjiang region, the first executions since the violence erupted in July.
Authorities convicted 21 defendants in October -- nine were sentenced to death, three were given the death penalty with a two-year reprieve, a sentence usually commuted to life in jail and the rest were handed various prison terms.
"The first group of nine people who were sentenced to death recently have already been executed in succession, with the approval of the Supreme Court," Hou Hanmin, spokeswoman for the Xinjiang government, told AFP.
It was not clear when the executions took place.
According to previous statements by the Xinjiang government, this first group consisted of eight members of the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority and one majority Han Chinese.
The violence erupted on July 5, pitting Uighurs against members of China's dominant Han group, leaving 197 dead and more than 1,600 injured, according to an official toll.
Han vigilantes then went on a rampage against Uighurs two days later, but the exact number of casualties from that day has never been divulged.
The 21 defendants were convicted of crimes such as murder, intentional damage to property, arson, and robbery.
Han Junbo, the Han Chinese man who was sentenced to death, was convicted of killing a Uighur man, according to a previous Xinjiang government statement.
One of the Uighurs given the death penalty was found guilty of beating two people to death with another defendant, as well as stealing people's possessions, including mobile phones and bracelets.
- AFP/ir
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