DHARAMSHALA: Four Tibetans have been arrested in Beijing over their attempts to file a petition seeking the release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a revered Tibetan spiritual teacher, currently undergoing life imprisonment over false and politically-motivated charges against him in a bomb blast in 2002.

63-year-old Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, was arrested from his monastery in Nyachu, Karze in eastern Tibet in April 2002, for his alleged role in a bomb blast in Chengdu, capital of China’s Sichuan province. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on 2 December 2002. His attendant, Lobsang Dhondup, was executed on 26 January 2003 for his alleged role in the bomb blast.

The petition, signed by around 30,000 Tibetans and well-wishers, said Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has no role in the bomb blasts and that he was arrested on false charges. It urged the Chinese government to open a re-trial and ensure his right to be represented by independent lawyers.

The petition has sought Tenzin Delek’s Rinpoche’s release on medical parole and access to proper medical treatment. He is reportedly in poor physical health as a result of many years of severe torture inflicted on him.

Sources in Tibet have maintained that the charges against Tenzin Delek Rinpoche were fabricated, and that the real reasons were Rinpoche’s growing popularity and his steadfast loyalty to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche established schools, children’s homes and retirement homes in Kham in eastern Tibet. He was a role model for the preservation of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan culture. He vehemently opposed mining which pollutes rivers and poisons the soil, condemned deforestation practices, which lead to flooding and soil erosion, and condemned unregulated hunting, which leads to the extinction of species.

The unfair trial and the death sentence for Tenzin Delek Rinpoche drew sharp criticism and protests from governments, parliaments and human rights organisations.  The European Parliament and several European countries passed resolutions calling for his release. The Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala has also made numerous appeals to the international community for his release.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on 24 January 2005.