Accused separatist former professor Ilham Tohti was under tight security during his trial on Wednesday, September 17, 2014, in Urumqi, Xinjiang.

Several officers stood their guard outside the courthouse and many others blocked the surrounding streets to prevent protesters and militants from getting near the building.

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Tohti arrived in the courthouse after having been advised by his lawyers that he will be denying all of the charges, all of which could lead to a life sentence.

According to Tohti's attorney, Li Fangping, the prosecutors of the case would most likely use his posts on his website called Uighur Online. They would also be tackling the lectures he taught at the university saying that he was leading a separatist criminal organization.

His second defense lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan, said that they have examined the articles and statements in the website and did not see anything related to separatism. The lawyer noted that expressing one's opinion on current events is far different from separatism.

Tohti was an Economics professor at Minzu Unversity in Beijing and was a scholar who was very opinionated about the policies of China towards the Uighurs.

Tohti has been detained since January when he judged the government's response regarding a suicide car attack that happened in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The government reportedly blamed militants from Xinjiang.

Separatists and terrorists in China started to become a major issue last year as the violence between locals and authorities escalated in Xinjiang, the Uighur homeland. Due to this, Beijing order a crackdown on possible separatists.

Critics have voiced their opinion regarding the case, some saying that there is a high percentage that Tohti will be judged guilty, and that if that happens, the moderate Uighur voices will be silenced, and all dialogue between Beijing and groups in the region will be terminated.

Other countries, such as the United States and the European Union, have already voiced their opinion about the case of Tohti saying that he should be released. Human rights groups also called on the officials to release Tohti.

EU first secretary for political affairs Rapahel Droszewski spoke before the start of the trial. He said: "Ilham Tohti worked peacefully within Chinese laws, and we believe he should be released." Droszewski was one of the nine dimplomats who traveled from Germany, US, Canada and Britain in order to observe the trial. They were not allowed to enter the court.

Also, the China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch, Sophie Richardson, said that Tohti advocated for greater understanding and dialogue between the communities and the state peacefully. Richardson noted that if what Tohti did was how they defined separatist activities, the tensions in Xinjiang will continue to increase.

TagsUrumqi, Xinjiang, Separatists, terrorists, courthouse, trial, life sentence