China has sentenced a respected Tibetan lama to eight-and-a-half years in jail for illegal land occupation and ammunition possession, possibly the first senior Buddhist leader tried on serious charges linked to riots in 2008 in the Tibetan capital, a lawyer said on Thursday.
A court in Sichuan Province, bordering Tibet, convicted Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, who headed a convent in Ganzi, a predominantly Tibetan prefecture in the province, Beijing-based attorney Jiang Tianyong (江天勇) said.
Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche is a Buddhist priest, or lama, and is highly respected. He was arrested on May 18, 2008, just days after more than 80 nuns in Ganzi held a demonstration against an official campaign to impose “patriotic re-education” on their convents, in which they were required to denounce Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
The International Campaign for Tibet, an activist group, has described Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche as a “deeply respected local figure known for his work in the community” — including the building of a center for the aged and two clinics in Ganzi prefecture — whose detention aroused deep resentment among local Tibetans.
The sentence was handed down on Dec. 23, eight months after the monk first went on trial in April, after authorities said they found a pistol and more than 100 bullets under a bed in his living room.
His lawyers said he was forced into making a confession following a four-day police interrogation and threats to detain his family.
The 53-year-old monk had faced up to 15 years in jail.
Jiang, one of two attorneys who advised the monk from early in the case, said he had pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court did not allow Jiang and Li Fangping (李方平), another well-known activist lawyer, to represent the monk in later trial sessions, Jiang said.
“We don’t believe there was sufficient evidence to convict him on either of the charges,” Jiang said.
Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche was sentenced to more than seven years in jail on the charge of illegal expropriation of land, which was related to the center for the aged he set up. The monk says the land was given to him lawfully.
The court sentenced him to another one-and-a-half years for possession of ammunition.
Jiang said that the lawyers and the monk’s family believed he should appeal for a lighter sentence.
“We don’t know if he will appeal. I think he has lost confidence in China’s courts since this case,” Jiang said.
A rugged, deeply Buddhist region filled with monasteries and nunneries, Ganzi is known for its strong Tibetan identity and has been at the center of dissent for years. It saw some of the most violent protests in spring 2008.
Rioting that broke out in Lhasa on March 14, 2008, led to the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades. The violence in the capital killed 22 people, according to Chinese officials.
Beijing says the demonstrations were part of a violent campaign organized by the Dalai Lama and his supporters to throw off Chinese rule in Tibet and sabotage the Beijing Olympics in August 2008.
The Dalai Lama has denied the charge and says he seeks only significant autonomy for Tibet under continued Chinese rule.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS