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China sentences 55 Tibetans for riots in March

By Chris Buckley | Reuters

Tibetan protesters throw stones at military trucks in Lhasa,Tibet, on 14 March 2008. The protest against the Chinese rule in Tibet, which turned violent in Lhasa, sparked the biggest free Tibet demonstrations in almost 20 years. China sentenced 55 people over their involvement in March riots on 4 November 2008.AFP/Tibet

A Chinese official has revealed fresh sentences for Tibetans accused of rioting in Lhasa in March, state media reported, while talks continue between Beijing and envoys of the Dalai Lama. The vice chairman of the Tibet regional government, Baema Cewang [Tib: Pema Tsewang], said 55 people had so far been sentenced for the deadly rioting that shook the regional capital, Lhasa, on March 14, sparking riots and protests against Chinese rule across many ethnic Tibetan areas, Xinhua news agency reported. “Following the violence, police detained 1,317 people, of whom 1,115 were subsequently released. The rest stood trial,” the report cited Tsewang as telling a visiting Australian parliamentarian.

The report did not detail the crimes or sentences of those convicted. Nor did it say what had happened to the some 147 people apparently tried but not sentenced.

In late April, China announced it had jailed 30 people for terms ranging from three years to life for their roles in the Lhasa riots that left 18 residents and a police officer dead. The unrest triggered a crackdown and then worldwide protests against Chinese policy in Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Beijing blamed the violence on supporters of the Dalai Lama, a claim he has repeatedly rejected.

Since April, groups abroad advocating Tibetan self-determination have reported additional sentences, but these have not been confirmed by China.

The London-based Free Tibet Campaign said eight Buddhist monks from Gyanbe Township in Tibet were sentenced in September, accused of bombing a government building there during the unrest.

Xinhua reported last month that three county courts in Tibet also sentenced 14 Tibetans to jail terms on charges of looting, robbery and rioting in March.

The official report of fresh convictions in Lhasa comes as Beijing holds talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled Buddhist leader.

Beijing calls the Nobel Peace Prize laureate a trouble-making separatist. But he says he wants to negotiate true autonomy for the mountain region he fled in 1959, not outright independence.

The Dalai’s envoys arrived in Beijing on Thursday for secretive talks days after he expressed pessimism over prospects for the negotiations.

Copyright © 2008 Thomson Reuters

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