China Puts Prominent Uighur Scholar on Trial for Separatism

In this Feb. 4, 2013 photo, Ilham Tohti, an outspoken scholar of China's Turkic Uighur ethnic minority, pauses during an interview at his home in Beijing, China. Tohti was set to go on trial on separatism charges on Sept. 17, 2014.

Guzulnur, wife of detained Uighur scholar, Ilham Tohti, bids farewell to friends before leaving on a flight for Urumqi, at the Capital Airport in Beijing, China, Sept. 15, 2014.

Guzulnur cries as she bids farewell to friends at the Capital Airport in Beijing, China, Sept. 15, 2014.

Les locaux de la Commission électorale nationale indépendante, Niamey, 16 février 2016 (VOA/Nicolas Pinault)

Police admit a vehicle through the checkpoint in Urumqi, Sept. 17, 2014.

Foreign diplomats watch from behind police lines outside of Urumqi People's Intermediate Court in Urumqi, northwestern province of Xinjiang, China, Sept. 17, 2014.