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Exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks listen to a speaker in New Delhi, India. Photo: AP

Tibetan leader accuses China of ‘sham’ trials

Tibet

The political leader of Tibetan exiles on Friday accused China of holding “sham” trials in which eight Tibetans were convicted of inciting others to self-immolate to protest Chinese rule.

Lobsang Sangay, prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, said the convictions reported Thursday by China’s state-run news agency were unfortunate because “repression is the cause” of the self-immolations.

About 100 Tibetan monks, nuns and lay people have set themselves on fire since 2009 to protest China’s heavy-handed rule. More than 80 of them have died from their burns, according to overseas Tibetan rights groups.

A court in the southwestern province of Sichuan sentenced a Tibetan man to death with a two-year reprieve and gave his nephew a 10-year prison sentence for encouraging eight people to self-immolate last year, three of whom died, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Suspended death sentences are usually commuted to life in prison.

Xinhua also said a court in the northwestern province of Gansu sentenced six ethnic Tibetans to between three and 12 years in prison for their roles in a self-immolation of a local resident in October.

On Friday, Sangay attended a prayer meeting of nearly 1,000 Tibetans in the Indian capital of New Delhi, with a huge banner in the background reading, “Why do Tibetans burn themselves?”

Sangay said it was unfortunate that the Chinese government had resorted to “sham” trials that had “no basis or legal process.”

“Now they are given long sentences, including suspended death sentences. These are very unfortunate trends because repression is the cause of self-immolation,” Sangay told The Associated Press.

He said he had asked Tibetans around the world not to celebrate the Lunar New Year this month out of respect for those who have died from the self-immolations.

“As a form of condolences and solidarity to all those Tibetans inside Tibet ... I have asked Tibetans not to celebrate, not to organise any festivals, but to wear traditional dress and go to monasteries and pray for all those who have died and continue to suffer in Tibet,” he said.

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