2 sentenced to death for murder of imam

Two teenage males were sentenced to death and a third man received life in prison on Sunday for the July 30 murder of Juma Tayier, an imam of the influential Id Kah mosque in Kashgar, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Juma, 74, had just performed a routine sunrise prayer at 6:58 am on July 30 at Id Kah when he was attacked and killed by three people. Police fatally shot two suspects at the scene, and the third, Nurmemet Abidili, 19, was arrested.

Police arrested Aini Aishan, 18, in the city of Hotan two days after the killing for allegedly plotting the attack.