China Executes 3, Jails 27 for Riots in Xinjiang Region

China has executed three people and jailed 27 others for their roles in bloody riots that shook the Muslim region of Xinjiang in February, officials said Saturday.

A police spokesman from the Yili district in Xinjiang said the executions took place Thursday.

But a spokesman for exiled Muslim separatists in neighboring Kazakhstan disputed the number of people executed. He contended that seven people were executed Thursday and five last month for their part in the unrest.

During the pro-independence riots in Yining on Feb. 5-6, crowds of young Muslims beat people to death. By official count, at least 10 people were killed and 140 injured. Police said hundreds were arrested.

The official Xinjiang Daily newspaper said that more than 5,000 people packed Yili’s main sports stadium Thursday to watch the sentencing of 30 people.

The three people who were executed received death sentences for malicious wounding, hooliganism, arson and “beating, smashing and looting,” the newspaper said.

Another person was sentenced to life imprisonment, and 26 others received varying prison sentences.

An official said they had “burned vehicles and houses, killed and injured public security officers and innocent people, committing unforgivable crimes.”