Tibet protesters jailed for life

"Tibet protesters jailed for life for deadly riots that killed 18 'innocent civilians'" (4/29/08)

Ruling: A Chinese court sentenced 17 Tibetans for riots China brutally cracked down (dailymail.co.uk)

A Chinese court today sentenced 17 Tibetans, including six monks, to jail terms ranging from three years to life for their roles in last month's riots. The Intermediate People's Court of Lhasa announced the sentences at an open session, after convicting the men of being responsible for the deaths of 18 "innocent civilians."

Two men, including a Buddhist monk identified as Basang, received life sentences. Basang allegedly led 10 people, including five other monks, who destroyed local government offices, burned down shops and attacked policemen. Two of the monks were sentenced to 20 years and the three others to 15 years, Xinhua said.

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The other man who received a life sentence was Soi'nam Norbu, a driver for a Lhasa real estate company who joined in the mobs that burned vehicles, smashed police stations and assaulted firefighters during the riot. He was convicted of arson and disrupting public services, but no details were given about the 10 other people sentenced. China's state broadcaster reported that 200 people attended the trial, the first since the mid-March riots.

The massive anti-government protests that turned violent in Lhasa on March 14 were the largest challenge to Chinese rule in the Himalayan region in nearly two decades.

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China has said 22 people died in the riots while Tibetan exile groups say many times that number were killed in the violence and the ensuing crackdown. Xinhua said the Lhasa violence left seven schools, five hospitals and 120 homes torched and more than 900 shops looted. Total damage was more than 244 million yuan (£17 million). Tibet and the surrounding provinces where protests broke out have been closed to foreigners since the unrest.

The sentences came a day after Tibetan authorities announced the reopening of the Sera Monastery, which was closed after the riots. "Monks have been taught legal knowledge in recent days and the monastery has resumed normal religious activities," Tenzin Namgyal, deputy director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee said. Other monasteries that were closed will be reopened soon, he said.

Chinese authorities have increased patriotic education classes that require monks to make ritual denunciations of the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama, accept the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama, and pledge allegiance to Beijing.

The protests, initially led by Buddhist monks, started peacefully on March 10, the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. They became violent four days later as Tibetans attacked cars and shops run by Han Chinese, China's majority ethnic group. Police and armed troops surrounded Lhasa's three main monasteries -- Sera, Drepung, and Ganden -- along with the sacred Jokhang Temple during the demonstrations. They were then closed off as authorities investigated which monks had been involved in the unrest.