A 62-year-old Uighur living in Sweden as a political refugee since 1997 has been found guilty of spying for China on Uighur expatriates and sentenced to a year and four months in jail. <...> From January 2008 until June 2009, [Swedish citizen Babur] Maihesuti had collected personal information about exiled Uighurs, including details on their health, travel and political involvement, and passed it on to Beijing, the court found. He had given the information to a Chinese diplomat and a Chinese journalist who, on assignment from the Chinese intelligence service, carried out operations in Sweden for the Chinese state. "The activity has taken place in secret through a special system of telephone calls, (and) was also deceptive since the man did not tell the Uighurs he was dealing with he was working for the Chinese state," the court said. The court ruled that the espionage was especially serious since Maihesuti had infiltrated the World Uighur Congress and the information passed on "could cause significant damage to Uighurs in and outside China." ...
From January 2008 until June 2009, [Swedish citizen Babur] Maihesuti had collected personal information about exiled Uighurs, including details on their health, travel and political involvement, and passed it on to Beijing, the court found.
He had given the information to a Chinese diplomat and a Chinese journalist who, on assignment from the Chinese intelligence service, carried out operations in Sweden for the Chinese state.
"The activity has taken place in secret through a special system of telephone calls, (and) was also deceptive since the man did not tell the Uighurs he was dealing with he was working for the Chinese state," the court said.
The court ruled that the espionage was especially serious since Maihesuti had infiltrated the World Uighur Congress and the information passed on "could cause significant damage to Uighurs in and outside China." ...
China has strongly denied allegations that it illegally gathered information on members of the Uighur community after a Swedish court jailed a man for spying. "This kind of accusation is totally groundless and has ulterior motives," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters, without giving any further details. Maihesuti was found guilty of "aggravated illegal espionage activity" by the Swedish court. <...> Qin would not be drawn on whether the case could have an impact on relations between China and Sweden. "We attach great importance to Sino-Swedish relations, and hope to be able to develop ties on the basis of respect and mutual confidence," he said.
"This kind of accusation is totally groundless and has ulterior motives," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters, without giving any further details.
Maihesuti was found guilty of "aggravated illegal espionage activity" by the Swedish court. <...>
Qin would not be drawn on whether the case could have an impact on relations between China and Sweden.
"We attach great importance to Sino-Swedish relations, and hope to be able to develop ties on the basis of respect and mutual confidence," he said.
