Phayul
August 27, 2009

Dharamsala, Aug 27 -- The exile Tibetan
government based here said on its website that
four Tibetans who participated in last year’s
protests had been sentenced up to fifteen years in prison.

The Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court passed the
verdicts on the four men, all in their twenties, in the beginning of this year.

Lobsang Wangchuk, 26; a resident of Dechen
township in Taktse county and a former monk of
Sangag monastery, was sent behind bars for
fifteen years. Two other men, Tsultrim, 23; and
Choephel, 24; were sentenced to two and half
years in prison. The three were accused of
participating in anti China protests in Taktse
county last year while another man named Lhakpa
Tsering, 22; was sentenced to five years in
prison for his role in a protest in Lhasa. All
four of them are said to be held at a prison in Chushul County near Lhasa.

The exile Tibetan government claims the clampdown
by Chinese government following protests in Tibet
last year has left more than 220 Tibetans dead
and over 1,294 were seriously injured. It further
says that over 5,600 arrests were made and 290
already sentenced with at least a thousand people unaccounted for.