Two Tibetan singers imprisoned for four years for releasing a music album were released on 3 October from Mianyang Prison and received a warm welcome from friends and well-wishers including former political prisoners in Meuruma Town in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) expresses its shock and dismay over the harsh sentences passed on three Tibetans by the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court.
Penkyi,sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve
According to official Chinese mouthpiece, Xinhua, dated 21 April 2009, the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court sentenced one man to death with a two-year reprieve and two others to long jail terms for setting fire that killed six people in Lhasa riot last year. Penkyi, of Sakya County, Shigatse Prefecture(Ch: Xigaze) “Tibet Autonomous Region” (‘TAR’) was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, whereas Penkyi, 23, from Nyemo County (Ch: Nimo Xian), Lhasa Municipality, “TAR” was sentenced to life imprisonment and Chime, 20, from Namling County (Ch: Nanmulin xian), Shigatse Prefecture, “TAR” was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The three were sentenced by the Chinese court on alleged charges of arson, setting fire to clothing stores last year during the Lhasa unrest.
The Olympic torch relay will travel to the heavily guarded Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on 21 June after the three-day tour that was initially planned was cut to one day. The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) remains highly concerned about the level of restriction imposed on the Tibetan people’s fundamental freedoms in the months that have followed in the wake of the March protests.
Since the beginning of June this year, several thousand of the People’s Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) forces were redeployed into main market squares, streets, major monasteries and road junctions around Lhasa city to check and respond to any untoward incidents during the Olympic torch relay, which is scheduled to travel from Norbulingka to Potala Palace square tomorrow. According to an official Chinese government website, the 11-km relay will start from Norbulingka, the summer palace of the Dalai Lama and end at the Potala Palace, but it has not mentioned the timing of the torch relay. An official internal circular had been sent to Chinese government departments ordering their heads to discourage their own employees, as well as the common citizens, from taking part in any political activities during the torch relay.