BANGKOK, June 11 (Reuters) - A Thai court handed out death sentences on Thursday to two ethnic Uyghur men from the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang for a 2015 bombing in the centre of Bangkok that killed 20 people, according to a court statement.
The explosion occurred at the Erawan Shrine in the centre of Bangkok, an area popular with foreign tourists. As well as the 20 people killed, another 120 were injured. Five of the dead were from mainland China and two from Hong Kong.
"The actions of both defendants constitute multiple separate offenses," the court statement said, adding that the sentence included punishment for the charge of premeditated murder, which resulted in the death penalty.
Both the convicted men, Adem Karadag and Yusufu Mieraili, have previously denied all charges brought against them, and will appeal against the death sentence, said Chamroen Panompakakorn, one of the two lawyers representing them.
"Don't be frightened, there are three other courts," he said.
Choochat Kanpai, the other lawyer, said the court had not considered multiple factors in their defence, adding that he would ask for an extension to file an appeal.
Under Thai law, appeals will have to be made within a month of a verdict.
TEN YEARS TO REACH TRIAL
The case has taken more than 10 years to reach trial, with prosecutors collecting evidence from hundreds of witnesses. They also struggled to find an appropriate interpreter for the suspects.
No group claimed responsibility for the 2015 bombing, but security experts say it was an act of retaliation against the forced deportation of more than 100 Uyghurs from Thailand in the previous month.
China has faced criticism for the perceived tough restrictions it has imposed on religious and cultural freedoms in Xinjiang, where the majority of Uyghurs live.
China foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday that it supported the Thai court's verdict.
"The perpetrators acted with utter inhumanity and committed a heinous crime," he said.
Last year, Thailand deported another 40 Uyghurs back to China, defying calls from United Nations human rights experts who said they would be at risk of torture, ill-treatment and "irreparable harm" if returned.
(Reporting by Napat Wesshasartar, Chalinee Thirasupa, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng; Additional reporting by Laurie Chen in Beijing; Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by David Stanway)
