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Chinese court sentences three more Tibetans

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File photos from left: Penkyi, who was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve; Penkyi, who received life imprisonment; and, Chime Lhamo, who was given 10 years in prison by a Chinese court in Lhasa for setting fires that killed six people in the Lhasa riot last year. Exile Tibetans say the convicts had not received fair and open trial.File photo/TCHRD handout/Tibet

A Chinese court in Lhasa has sentenced one woman to death with a two-year reprieve and two others to long jail terms for setting fires that killed six people in the Lhasa riot last year, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday.

Penkyi has been given the suspended death penalty by a Chinese court in Lhasa for starting fires on two clothing shops on 14 March, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. However, such sentences are usually commuted to life in prison, if she does not commit any further crime in jail over the next two years.

Xinhua reported Penkyi to be a man, while the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, said that the convict is a 21-year-old woman from Sakya.

Another Penkyi, 23, of Nyimo, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Chime Lhamo, 20, was given 10 years in prison.

The owner of the shop was killed in the first fire, while five of the shop’s six staff, aged 17 to 23, were killed in the second fire, Xinhua said.

On 8 April, another four Tibetans were handed death sentences, with two of them also suspended for two years, while one was given life in prison, for arson during the riots.

Tibetans in Dharamshala, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile, condemned the executions. A candle light vigil was organised by four non-governmental organisations to raise their voice against the harsh sentences.

They urged the Chinese authorities to conduct fair and open trails for the convicted Tibetans.

Protests started by monks on 10 March last year turned violent on 14 March, and later spread to other areas where Tibetans live.

China said the “rioters” killed 21 civilians, while only one “insurgent” was killed by it’s security forces.

The Tibetan government-in-exile put the number of Tibetan protesters killed in China’s subsequent crackdown to more than 200.

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