Rights Group Demands International Community’s Mediation on Unfair Prison Sentence to Tibetan LamaThursday, 31 December 2009, 11:57 a.m.
A human
rights watchdog based in India has demanded international community’s
intervention in the “unfair prison sentence” handed down to Tulku
Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche by the Chinese government over charges of
alleged possession of weapons and land, the accusations which the
Tibetan Lama and his Chinese defence lawyer denied.
Tulku Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche |
Dharamshala: The
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala on Tuesday
strongly condemned the verdict, saying Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche was
sentenced under “insubstantial charges with evidence extracted through
torture in violation of the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law and other
international laws”.Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, the 52-year-old
head of the Pangri and Yatseg nunneries located in Karze, Tibet, has
been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison by the Intermediate
People’s Court in Dartsedo on 23 December 2009. He was
arrested on 18 May last year just days after more than 80 nuns in the
town of Karze held a peaceful demonstration against the Chinese
government order to impose “patriotic re-education” on their nunneries
in which they were required to denounce the His Holiness the Dalai
Lama. Prosecutors alleged that a pistol and more than 100
bullets and cartridges were found under a bed in Phurbu Tsering
Rinpoche’s living room during a police raid, but the monk has denied
the allegation, saying he was framed, his Beijing-based lawyer Li
Fangping had told The Associated Press in a phone interview in April this year. Terming
the charges as “untenable”, Li said “Police didn’t ask him about the
source of the weapons or check for fingerprints.” Li said the monk was
forced into making a confession after a police interrogation that
lasted four days and threats that his wife and son would be detained if
he did not comply.The Times quoted the family of Phurbu
Tsering Rinpoche as saying that the court appeared to have failed on
charges of possession of illegal weapons. One relative, who declined to
be identified, said: “It seems they couldn’t make the charge about a
gun stand up so they used the bullets. As for illegally occupying land,
this land was given to the living Buddha himself to build an old
people’s home so there is no question of it being illegal.”At
the time of his trial the court had made no attempt to investigate the
weapons charges, his lawyer said. As for the illegal occupation of
public land, his lawyer argued that the monk had spent 70,000 yuan
(£7,000) of his money to buy the plot on which he built the old
people’s home.His lawyers could not be present for the
sentencing since both men – prominent for their willingness to handle
sensitive human rights cases — were disbarred earlier this year, The Times reported.The
International Campaign for Tibet based in Washington DC had 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 — whose detention has aroused deep resentment
among local Tibetans.