A Chinese minority Uighur scholar accused of separatism is set to go on trial on Wednesday in Urumqi, reports said.

Former Beijing University professor Ilham Tohti was arrested earlier this year for leading activities intended to oust Chinese communist rule in Xinjiang.

One of Tohti's lawyers, Liu Xiaoyuan, said on Friday that the Urumqi court scheduled Tohti's trial in three days.

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The former economics professor was imprisoned in January for inciting revolution among his students against the Chinese government for its biased ethnic policies.

Other allegations against Tohti included advocating independence among the Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang's northwest.

A Xinjiang native himself, Tohti spoke openly of his desire to be independent from China in his website amid increasing tensions involving the minority's members.

Aside from these, his ideas were believed to have inspired the Uighurs to carry out anti-government violence in Xinjiang and other cities.

However, the minority scholar denied the allegations, reports said.

Tohti only met his lawyers in June, after being detained for five months. His lawyers revealed that he was not treated fairly while in detention.

For instance, he was deprived of meals that adhere to Islamic dietary requirements, Li Fangping, another of his lawyers said. This brought Tohti to go on a hunger strike for 10 days shortly after he was detained, according to reports.

Moreover, the authorities detaining Tohti unfairly attributed to him an Uighur attack in March in Kunming's south, where 31 people were killed. According to his lawyer, Tohti was denied food for 10 days because of this.

Fangping also confirmed that Tohti had been chained for more than a month while he was detained.

The Chinese government believes that Xinjiang's Uighur minority is seeking independence as a separate state. Furthermore, it believes that its strategy includes carrying out terrorist attacks in the region and beyond.

TagsXinjiang, ilham tohti, Liu Xiaoyuan