URUMQI, China, July 30 (UPI) -- Chinese courts sentenced the managers of three Uighur-language Web sites to prison, Amnesty International said Friday.

Dilmurat Perhat told the group that his brother, Dilshat, who managed the Diyarim site, was sentenced to five years on state security charges, while Nureli, who managed Salkin, got a 3-year term and Nijat Azat of Shabnam 10 years in prison. Dilmurat Perhat, who is in Britain, said he had been warned that talking about his brother's case might hurt him.

"But today, I'm not worried because my brother has been sentenced already," he told Amnesty International.

The three sites were popular in the Uighur Autonomous Area before last year's riots.

"The Chinese governments' attempts to control all online activity in Xinjiang is not going to silence those with genuine grievances," said Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific Director for Amnesty International. "These three Uighur Web managers must be released."

Uighurs, who are mostly Muslim, are ethnically distinct from Han Chinese. The region has a strong nationalist movement.