China sentences 2 to death for fires in Tibet riot

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese court on Wednesday handed down death sentences to two Tibetans accused of starting deadly fires in last year's anti-government riots in Tibet, state media and a court officer said.

It was the first report of death sentences given out for the March 14 violence in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, that Chinese officials say killed 22 people. The violence led to the most sustained uprising against Chinese rule in decades. State media say 76 people have been sentenced and more than 950 detained.

Beijing claims the protests were part of a violent campaign by the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and his supporters to throw off Chinese rule in Tibet and sabotage last August's Beijing Olympics. The Dalai Lama has denied the charge and has said he seeks only significant autonomy for Tibet under continued Chinese rule.

The Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People's Court also gave suspended death sentences to two other people, and sentenced another to life imprisonment, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a brief report. Suspended death sentences usually are changed to life imprisonment after two years.



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[Turborama]

1. Two Tibetans sentenced to death over Lhasa riots

Source: AFP

BEIJING (AFP) — A court in Tibet has sentenced two people to death over riots in Lhasa last year, China's state media said on Wednesday in what was the harshest sentence yet reported over the deadly unrest.

Two others were given suspended death sentences while another was given life in prison in three separate cases, said the report, which quoted a spokesman for the intermediate court in the Tibetan capital.

Fierce anti-China riots broke out in Lhasa in March last year and spread across Tibet and adjacent areas with Tibetan populations, deeply embarrassing the Chinese government as it was preparing to host the Beijing Summer Olympics.

China blamed the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for inciting the violence and responded with a massive security crackdown on the region that has remained in place ever since.

=snip=

Matt Whitticase, spokesman for London-based activist group Free Tibet, condemned the verdicts, saying defendants have been denied due process in secretive trials. "We are extremely concerned about these first death sentences. We have seen a spate of trials and sentencing in recent months that have been conducted well outside proper legal oversight and without due legal process," he told AFP. "The Chinese imposition of death sentences for the protests is of grave concern."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j2vaOw82EoRLlCD0f0FQSOCZfgeg

[Better Believe It]

2. So how many Chinese civilians were murdered during the ethnic cleansing riots?

Are these the first people convicted of killing those who died during the violent fire bombings and physical attacks directed at Chinese people and Chinese owned businesses?