[JURIST] Nur Bekri, chairman of the government in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region [official website], told the Xinhua News Agency [official website] Sunday that twelve "mobsters" had been fatally shot by police in the Chinese city of Urumqi on July 5 [Xinhua report] in riots that received extensive coverage in the West. Nur Bekri went on the say that the police had fired warning shots and that he was making the announcement in order "to erase the negative effects of the riots in the shortest period of time."

Shortly after the rioting, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] called for restraint [press release] from all sides and a respect for due process in arrests and prosecutions. Pillay's remarks come two days after violence broke out [NYT report] between Han Chinese and Uighur residents in Xinjiang's regional capital. The Chinese government says [Xinhua report] that the majority of those killed in the violence were Han residents killed by protesters, although the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur American Association [advocacy websites] say that many protesters were killed by authorities but not included in the official death toll. The Uighur population, which is Muslim, is opposed [BBC backgrounder] to China's restrictive bans on religious practice, and say that the recent influx of Han Chinese has disenfranchised non-Chinese-speaking Uighurs.

[JURIST] The Adawa court of misdemeanors in the Egyptian city of Menya Saturday reversed the conviction [ANHRI press releases] of Mounir Saeed Hannah, a teacher charged with insulting President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak [official website] by authoring an unpublished satirical poem. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information [advocacy website] represented Hanna in his appeal, emphasizing to the court the responsibility of the judiciary as "the first defense front of freedom of expression." Initially unrepresented by counsel, Hanna was convicted and sentenced in June to three years in prison with a bail of 100,000 Egyptian pounds (US$18,000) after one of his coworkers reported the poem.

In February, the Agouza appeals court overturned [JURIST news report] the one year prison sentences of four newspaper editors convicted of defaming Mubarak and the ruling National Democratic Party [party website], but upheld the approximately US$3600 fines against the men.

[JURIST] A Pakistan anti-terrorism court Saturday began the trial of five men allegedly belonging to the Lakshar-e-Taiba (LeT) [CFR backgrounder] militant group suspected of planning and coordinating the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], according to Pakistan media reports [INN report]. The alleged commander of the attacks, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lahkvi [Global Jihad profile], is among the five, and will be indicted with the others when the trial resumes July 25. Based on investigations conducted by the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency [official website], the five men are accused of providing "transport, accommodation, computer network, financial assistance and boats" to those who carried out the Mumbai attacks. One of the men has petitioned the court to give him access to the evidence submitted against him that he believes to be incomplete and false. The court also issued warrants for the arrest of seven more suspects that have been proclaimed as culprits.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [BBC profiles] released a joint statement [text] on Thursday "resolv[ing] to fight terrorism and to cooperate with each other to this end," and emphasizing the need to prosecute those responsible for the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan completed [JURIST news report] its probe into the Mumbai attacks last week. In February, Pakistani officials conceded [JURIST report] that the attacks were partially planned in their country. In June, India issued an arrest warrant [JURIST report] for Lahkvi, but Pakistan announced it would not hand over [IANS report] any of its citizens and would try them in Pakistan. The attacks in Mumbai, which claimed at least 170 lives, were carried out at ten locations across the city, including the landmark Taj Mahal Palace hotel.