Beijing, Sep 23 (IANS): Ilham Tohti, a teacher belonging to the Uygur ethnic group, was Tuesdaysentenced to life in prison for separatism in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, officials said.

The Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi gave the verdict, depriving Tohti of his political rights for life and confiscating his personal property, Xinhua reported.

The court heard that the former teacher at Beijing's Minzu University of China spread lessons containing separatist thoughts via the website, Uygur Online. He bewitched and coerced young ethnic students to work for the website and built a criminal syndicate, according to the ruling.

Tohti organised this group to write, edit, translate and reprint articles seeking Xinjiang's separation from China.

The articles attacked China's ethnic, religious, economic and family planning policies, and incited ethnic hatred by distorting the causes of a number of riots and disputes that occurred in Xinjiang and Beijing, ruled the court.

It said that through online instigation, Tohti encouraged his fellow Uygurs to use violence. He also colluded with foreign groups and individuals in hyping incidents related to Xinjiang with the aim of making domestic issues international.

Relatives of Tohti were present at the sentencing.