Ilham Tohti, a Uygur who is a former teacher at Minzu University in Beijing, was sentenced to life in prison for separatism by Urumqi Intermediate People's Court on Tuesday following a two-day trial last week.

The court also ordered all his personal property to be confiscated and deprived his political rights for life.

The court heard that the former teacher spread lessons containing separatist thoughts via the website, Uygur Online. He coerced students to work for the website and built a criminal syndicate, according to the ruling.