Posted on 07/14/2008 8:51:36 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
BEIJING: China has jailed 42 people for their role in the unrest in Tibet this year. Over a 100 other undertrials may face the death penalty, state press reported on Friday.
As many as 12 people were jailed for unspecified periods on June 19 and 20, adding to the 30 people who were sentenced the previous month and whose cases had already been reported, Xinhua news agency quoted a Tibetan leader as saying.
No one had been given the death penalty yet but those still on trial may be, Palma Trily, the executive vice chairman of Tibet, was cited as saying.
"It would be decided under Chinese laws whether some would be sentenced to death," he said.
At present, the total number of people on trial is 116, he said. Those jailed or on trial have been charged for their role in the March 14 riots in Tibet's capital, Lhasa, Xinhua reported. They have been charged with arson, robbery and assaulting government offices, said the news agency.
Peaceful protests that began on March 10 in Lhasa to mark the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against China's rule of Tibet escalated into widespread violence across the city on March 14. China said 18 "innocent civilians" and one policeman were killed in the riots.
Tibet's government-in-exile said more than 200 people were killed in the Chinese crackdown on the unrest, which spread to other parts of western China that have Tibetan populations. The 30 people jailed in April were sentenced for between three years and life.
What a wonderful place for the Olympics.
This is much too harsh a penalty for the Tibetan protesters. If the Red Chinese leadership can do this on the eve of the Olympics, it shows they can’t be swayed by gentle tactics such as free trade agreements and technology sharing. The west better wake up as Red China is growing very powerful and its communist leaders are the same bad types as Stalin and Lenin.
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