CHINA: China executes two for 2008 Tibet riots

Record ID: 1376969

  • Title: CHINA: China executes two for 2008 Tibet riots
  • Date: 28th October 2009
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (OCTOBER 27, 2009) (REUTERS) FOREIGN MINISTRY NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON MA ZHAOXU SAYING: "As far as I am aware, the People's Court of China carried out judicial procedures of the accused, who hold legal responsibilities for the March 14 incident strictly in accordance with the criminal law of People's Republic of China. These cases all had open judicial court sessions for the hearing and sentencing. Lawyers of the accused had their chance to present their case."
  • Embargoed: 12th November 2009 13:24
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3FMHIW1IJBIGAV9LO3NEY36C1
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: China's Foreign Ministry confirms two people were executed for their role in last year's riots against Chinese rule in Tibet.
    China on Tuesday (October 27) confirmed it had executed two people for their involvement in deadly riots in Tibet last year.
    The International Campaign for Tibet, which rallies for self-rule for the restive mountain region in far-west China, said on Monday (October 26) that Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak were executed for arson-related crimes committed in Lhasa, the regional capital, in March last year. Tibetans sometimes use just one name.
    Tibetan protests against Chinese rule, led by Buddhist monks on March 14 last year, gave way to violence, with rioters torching shops and turning on residents, especially Han Chinese, who many Tibetans see as intruders threatening their culture.
    At least 19 people died in the unrest, which sparked waves of protests across Tibetan areas. Tibetan exile groups say more than 200 people died in the subsequent crackdown.
    Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu did not give any details about the executions, the first ones officially confirmed to have been carried out in connection with the unrest.
    However, he said that two death sentences have been carried out over the violence, which Beijing blamed on the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader. He has repeatedly denounced those claims.
    "As far as I am aware, the People's Court of China carried out judicial procedures of the accused, who hold legal responsibilities for the March 14 incident strictly in accordance with the criminal law of People's Republic of China. These cases all had open judicial court sessions for the hearing and sentencing. Lawyers of the accused had their chance to present their case," Ma told journalists during a regular news briefing in Beijing.
    Some exiled Tibetan groups have said that another two Tibetans were also executed over the unrest that rippled out from Lhasa to other ethnic Tibetan regions.
    Last week, 500 Tibetans, mostly Buddhist monks and nuns, marched with candles through Dharamsala in north India, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based, denouncing what they said were executions of four Tibetans for the protests last year.
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