Five people were sentenced Thursday to death for murder and other crimes committed in the July 5 riot in Urumqi, capital of west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regions.

The defandants were Memeteli Islam, Mamattursun Elmu, Memeteli Abburakm, Kushiman Kurban and Helil Sadir.

Two others were sentenced at the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi to life imprisonment and another six were given jail terms.

The cases were heard in the Uygur language and interpretation was provided as hundreds of people, including relatives of the defendants and the victims, were present at the trial.

Trials in five other cases connected with the riot will be heard by the court on Friday, according to court sources.

On October 30, the Higher People's Court of Xinjiang upheld death penalty for nine people convicted of crimes committed during the riot.

(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2009)