Uighur activist's son secretly tried -Amnesty

BEIJING, Mar 9 (Reuters) The third son of exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer has been tried in secret by a Chinese court after being severly beaten while in detention, human rights group Amnesty International said.

Ablikim Abdiriyim was tried on charges of seperatism, subversion and sending information over the Internet to his mother, though it is unclear what sentence was passed, Amnesty said in an e-mailed statement seen today.

''Ablikim Abdiriyim is reportedly very ill as a result of beatings suffered in detention, and continues to be denied access to the medical treatment he needs,'' the group said.

''Amnesty International is gravely concerned about his health and fears that his life may be at risk,'' it added.

Kadeer, a Muslim ethnic Uighur, was jailed for more than five years before being sent into exile in the United States in 2005, where her championing of her people's rights has led supporters to dub her the ''mother of the Uighur people''.

Another of her sons was jailed for seven years for tax evasion in November.

Amnesty said Ablikim Abdiriyim was being held in a jail in Urumqi, regional capital of the far western region of Xinjiang, where the Uighur minority live.

''While in detention awaiting trial, Ablikim Abdiriyim reportedly endured regular long interrogations, beatings and other ill-treatment,'' Amnesty said.

''Guards have reportedly refused to let him have the warm clothes sent by his family,'' it said.

China keeps a tight grip on oil-rich Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia and where Uighur activists have been agitating for greater autonomy and a loosening of restrictions on Muslim religious worship.

Xinjiang is home to 8 million Uighurs, a Turkic, largely Islamic people who share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia.

Many resent the growing Han Chinese presence in Xinjiang, as well as government controls on religion and culture.

Reuters SY DB0902