China to prosecute Xinjiang judge for letting off terror suspects

Authorities in China's violence-prone western region of Xinjiang will prosecute a former judge who reduced penalties and let off people suspected of terrorism, a regional government said. Hundreds have died in recent years in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, in unrest blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants and separatists, though rights groups say the violence is more a reaction to repressive Chinese policies. Fulati Qiuwaer was a senior judge in Aksu, in heavily Uighur southwestern Xinjiang, but had been sacked and expelled from the ruling Communist Party for his leniency in dealing with terror suspects, the Aksu branch of the party's anti-graft watchdog said.

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