Death penalty for 2 Uyghurs over 2015 Bangkok bombing

A Thai court handed out death sentences on Thursday to two ethnic Uyghur men from Xinjiang for a 2015 bombing in Bangkok that killed 20 people. Reacting to the verdict, China said it supports Thailand in "severely punishing" the pair. The explosion occurred at the Erawan Shrine in the centre of Bangkok, an area popular with foreign tourists. Of the 20 people killed in the blast in August 2015, five were from the mainland and two from Hong Kong. More than 120 were injured. "The actions of both defendants constitute multiple separate offences," the court statement said, adding that the sentences included punishment for the charge of premeditated murder, which resulted in the death penalty. Both of the accused, who denied the charges, will appeal against the sentences within a month, said a lawyer for one of the men, Choochat Kanpai. "China supports Thailand in conducting the trial in accordance with the law and severely punishing the murderers," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular news briefing. "The attackers were totally inhumane and extremely heinous." (Agencies) Edited by Edmond Fong