China sentences eight monks for Tibet bombing News
China sentences eight monks for Tibet bombing

[JURIST] The Chinese People's Court in Chamdo prefecture sentenced eight Tibetan monks to prison last month, including two to life sentences, according to Tibetan activist group Free Tibet [advocacy website] Tuesday. The eight monks were arrested by Chinese authorities in April [JURIST news archive] in connection with the March bombing of a government building. The bombing took place during widespread protests against Chinese rule in Tibet [BBC backgrounder]. Free Tibet cited [Free Tibet press release] a "very reliable source in the region," saying:

The legal proceedings against the monks have been shrouded in complete secrecy, according to the source. Normally relatives of the accused would be informed of the nature of the alleged charges, and also of the sentencing. It is also unusual that, in a case concerning an alleged bombing, the sentencing of the convicted is not carried out in a public court.

According to the source, the case against the monks has been mounted in the absence of even the most basic level of legal oversight and due process: from the time of arrest to sentencing the monks were denied all access to family and legal counsel; the nature of the charges and the eventual sentencing has not been made public by the court. Relatives of the monks had expected them to be released after the Olympics. Instead the monks were sentenced following the Games, although family relatives were not informed of the sentences. Details of the sentencing had come from an undisclosed contact of the source.

Reuters has more. AP has additional coverage.

Chinese officials blamed the Dalai Lama [personal website], Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, for the protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. China claimed 19 people died after the skirmishes, but the Tibetan government-in-exile [official website] said that 130 had died [JURIST report]. The Dalai Lama denied accusations that he was behind the riots and has said that he supports true autonomy for Tibet, not outright independence.