Ilham Tohti, a former economics professor from the Minzu University of China, was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday in Urumqi, capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Tohti was deprived of his political rights for life and all his personal property will be confiscated. He was charged with separatism.

The Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi announced the verdict Tuesday morning, four days after Tohti's hearing came to a close.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the court ruled that Tohti was responsible for organizing a group that wrote, edited, translated and reprinted articles seeking Xinjiang's separation from China, as well as articles that attacked China's ethnic, religious, economic and family planning policies and incited ethnic hatred by distorting the causes of a number of riots.

In its verdict, the court also said that "in order to promote separatism, Tohti colluded with foreign media and individuals … hyped incidents related to Xinjiang, attacked China's Xinjiang policies, and made domestic problems international by using foreign media to bring pressure to bear."

"The court connected Tohti with the July 5 riots in Urumqi in 2009, citing evidence that some participants attended Tohti's lecture in Beijing shortly before the riot," Liu Xiaoyuan, one of Tohti's attorneys, told the Global Times.

The prosecutor believed that at least three people who planned, organized and participated in the July 5 riots were incited by Tohti, all of whom had been prosecuted.

Tohti will lodge an appeal in a day or two at the High People's Court of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Liu noted.

Li Fangping, another of  Tohti's lawyers, confirmed to the Global Times that he will continue representing Tohti during his appeal.

The case has attracted world-wide attention. China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that judicial organs heard the case based on China's laws and that the foreign ministry opposes interference by any country in China's judicial processes.

Detained in January, Tohti is the founder of the website Uyghur Online.

Earlier reports said Tohti recruited people to create rumors, distort and hype issues.

Media reports said he had been arrested several times for instigation and "spreading rumors." Tohti reportedly has a close relationship with the World Uyghur Congress, which advocates the "independence of Xinjiang."

Police said previously he has connections with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, an organization listed by the UN as a terrorist group. He also allegedly described mobs that took part in some terror attacks as "heroes."