DHARAMSHALA, January 8: A Chinese court in Tsoe city has sentenced three Tibetans on Jan. 2 to varying prison terms for their alleged roles in self-immolation protests in Sangchu County in 2012, according to US funded Radio Free Asia.
Dorjee Rabten was sentenced to two years in prison for his connection with self-immolation protest by Thupwang Kyab, a 21-year-old Tibetan who set himself on fire on the main street of Sangkhog Township in Sangchu County on October 24, 2012. He succumbed to his injuries at his protest site.
Kalsang Jinpa and Dorjee Tashi were sentenced to eighteen months in prison for their alleged involvement in Sangay Tashi’s self-immolation protest.
Sangay Tashi, 18, set himself on fire on November 27 in Sangkhog town. Tashi shouted slogans calling for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the release of all Tibetan political prisoners, including the 11th Panchen Lama, while engulfed in flames.
The three Tibetans are currently in a prison in Sangchu County.
Since 2009, 125 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet protesting against the China’s occupation of Tibet and its hard-line policies. The Chinese government has responded with harsh policies, criminalizing the self-immolation protests and sentencing scores of people to heavy prison terms on charges of “intentional homicide” for their alleged roles in self-immolation protests.
