Chinese syringe attackers jailed

A court in China's Xinjiang region has sentenced three people to up to 15 years in jail in the first trials over a recent series of syringe attacks.

The court did not give the defendants²' ethnicity(种族) but their names suggest they are from the Muslim Uighur minority（少数民族维吾尔族）.

The syringe attacks have raised tension in a long-standing conflict between the Uighur and Han communities.

Xinjiang saw ethnic³ riots in July and thousands have protested in Urumqi, the main city, over the syringe attacks.

Robbery

The authorities in Xinjiang were this week said to be holding 12 suspects in relation to the attacks.



The BBC's Chris Hogg in Shanghai says local people have been calling on the authorities to take swift legal action to help to restore calm in the region.

The defendant¹ who was given the longest sentence by the Intermediate Court of Urumqi was named as Yilipan Yilihamu.

The 19-year-old was jailed for 15 years for stabbing a woman in the buttock at a fruit stall, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Muhutaerjiang Turdi, 34, and a 22-year-old woman, Aimannisha Guli, were given sentences of 10 and seven years respectively.

They were convicted（定罪） of threatening a taxi driver with a syringe and stealing 710 yuan ($103) from him.

The Chinese government has been struggling to restore calm in Xinjiang since the July riots, the worst ethnic unrest in the country for decades.

The violence began on 5 July when an initially（最初） peaceful protest by Uighur youths, apparently⁴ prompted by an earlier riot in a factory in southern China, spiralled out of control - with shops and vehicles burned and passers-by attacked.

About 80 people have been charged over the violence but no date has been set for their trial.

The tension has been exacerbated⁵ by the syringe attacks, although their scale and seriousness remains⁶ unclear.

Urumqi health and police authorities say more than 500 people had been stabbed by hypodermic syringes in Urumqi, with about 170 of the victims showing obvious signs of the attacks.

None of the victims have suffered poisoning or other effects.

Du Xintao, an official with the regional public security department, said the syringe incidents were "terror attacks" trying to "scare residents and create further unrest". (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

2 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。