Johannesburg - Two Uighur government officials in China's Xinjiang region have been sentenced to death for "separatist activities", AFP quoted a court as saying.
China is currently under increasing international pressure to show more accountability for its handling of Muslim Uighurs in the region, which the United States has called a "genocide", and numerous calls for human rights abuses.
Shirzat Bawudun, a former Xinjiang Justice Department chief, has been sentenced to two years in prison for "sectarian divisions", according to a statement on the Xinjiang website.
According to Wang Langtao, vice-president of the Xinjiang People's High Court, Bawudun formed a conspiracy with the terrorist organization, took bribes, and carried out separatist activities.
According to Xinhua, he had met a prominent member of the group in 2003. Last year, the US removed a terrorist group from its list, saying there was not enough evidence.
Sattar Sawut, a former director of the Xinjiang Department of Education, was also sentenced to two years in prison. He was found guilty of divorce and accepting a bribe.
Sautut has been found guilty of heresy, terrorism, and religious extremism in Uighur literature.
Rights groups accuse China of keeping at least one million Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang concentration camps, which China calls "vocational centres".
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