by Kalsang Rinchen
Dharamsala, March 23 – The Supreme Court of Nepal yesterday ordered government authorities to release three Tibetan activists who were detained by the police for their alleged involvement in anti-China activities on Nepali soil, reported the Himalayan Times.
A division bench of Justices Damodar Prasad Sharma and Krishna Prasad Upadhayaya said Sherap Dhondup, Sonam Dhondup and Kelsang Dhondup should be set free.
The Police had arrested them from Boudha on March 9, a day before the sensitive Tibetan national uprising day, and had sent them in preventive custody.
Stating that the detention was against Section 3(1) of the Public Offense Act, 1989, the apex court told the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Police Headquarters and the Kathmandu District Police Circle Hanumandhoka to release them. The bench also observed that the order of the Kathmandu District Administration Office and the detention were illegal.
On March 17, the apex court had directed the authorities to produce the Tibetan activists in the court within 24 hours for an initial hearing. The police produced them in the apex court on Friday. However, the hearing could not take place then and they were produced before the bench Monday.
The Tibetans had been charged with ‘posing a threat to Nepal-China relations.’ The police also claimed they found weapons on the Tibetans, an allegation that the Tibetans denied while talking to reporters on the SC premises saying it was “totally fabricated”.
Meanwhile, nearly two dozen Tibetans who were arrested following protests on March 10 in Kathmandu, are still in detention. They were ordered to be locked up for 90 days by the Nepalese authorities.
Tibetans in Nepal have been protesting regularly against China since 2008, after unrest across Tibet were suppressed with violent military crackdown by Chinese Communist authorities.
Acting under heavy Chinese influence, the Nepalese government has lately intensified its security to prevent Tibetan activists from taking part in peaceful demonstrations.
Those who defied government order were stopped by Nepali police, often using excessive force. The demonstrators regularly faced arrests, intimidation and in some cases individual threats and arbitrary detention.
Nepal recently increased security along its northern border and banned protests near the Chinese embassy.
Nepal’s brutal handling of Tibetan protesters had come under intense international criticism and the government had been accused of cracking down on the refugees under Chinese pressure.
