Seven minority students working for a website run by a prominent Muslim Uighur scholar recently convicted of separatism have been tried on the same charge in China’s far-west region of Xinjiang, a rights lawyer has said.

Li Fangping, a defence lawyer for the economics professor Ilham Tohti, said the students were certain to be found guilty by the Urumqi intermediate people’s court, the same court that sentenced their teacher to life imprisonment in September. The economist is known for his outspoken criticism of the government and its ethnic policy.

“The question is how many years these students will be jailed,” Li said. “But we don’t expect them to be jailed as long as their teacher.”

Repeated calls to the court were unanswered. The court also provided no information on the students’ trials on its official website or social media accounts.

Li said the students were charged with separatism for their involvement with Uighur Online, a website run by Tohti but later shut down by the government. Some also were accused of attending religious meetings in Hong Kong, the lawyer added.

Tohti told the court earlier that he set up the website to give the minority Uighur people a voice and help the Han Chinese people understand the former. But the court ruled that he used the site to incite ethnic hatred.

At least three students Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat, and Luo Yuwei have confessed on state television that, while working for Uighur Online, they were instructed by Tohti to run articles that could exacerbate ethnic tensions. The other four students are Mutellip Imin, Abduqeyum Ablimit, Atikem Rozi and Akbar Imin. Rozi had spoken publicly about how the government had refused to issue her with a passport, a common complaint among Uighurs.

Supporters of Tohti say the scholar and his students are being punished for his criticisms of the government.

Barack Obama has urged Beijing to free the economist.