BangkokReuters —
A Thai court on Thursday sentenced two Uyghur men from northwestern China’s Xinjiang region to death for the 2015 bombings that killed 20 people in central Bangkok, according to a court statement.
The explosion occurred at the Erawan Temple in central Bangkok, a popular temple for foreign tourists. 20 people were killed and 120 injured. Five of the dead were from mainland China and two from Hong Kong.
“The actions of both defendants amounted to several separate crimes,” the court statement said, adding that the sentences included premeditated murder charges, resulting in the death penalty.
Chuchat Kampai, a lawyer for one of the men, told reporters that the two defendants plan to appeal the verdict within a month.
No group claimed responsibility for the bombing, but security experts say it was an act of revenge for the deportation of more than 100 Uyghurs from Thailand last month.
The mostly Muslim Uyghurs say they fled northwestern China’s Xinjiang region due to persecution. The Chinese government rejects this claim.
China has faced criticism for what it perceives as severe restrictions on religious and cultural freedom in the Xinjiang region, where the majority Uyghur population lives.
The two suspects deny the charges.
The case took more than a decade to reach trial, with prosecutors gathering evidence from hundreds of witnesses. They also had trouble finding suitable interpreters for the suspects.
Thailand forcibly returned 40 more Uyghurs to China last year, ignoring calls from UN human rights experts who said they risked torture, ill-treatment and “irreparable harm” if returned.
