URUMQI: Evidence in the case is literally weighty - nearly 400 kg of batons and bricks stained with blood, used as deadly weapons in the riot that rocked Urumqi on July 5.

With trials expected to begin this month, according to a local judge, the city is holding its breath and hoping for calm.

"I don't want to be reminded of what happened that day," said one mother in the city, afraid that a court ruling could ignite anger in this ethnically diverse city.