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China executes four Tibetans |
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Tibet Society strongly condemns the judicial execution of four Tibetans in Lhasa on 20 October. Reports now confirm these took place and those executed were Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak who had both received death sentences in April, Penkyi and an as yet unidentified fourth Tibetan. Confirmation of Penkyi's identity remains unclear, a 23-year-old Tibetan woman named Penkyi was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in April and another Penkyi received a sentence of life imprisonment. The trials that reached these verdicts were conducted behind closed doors with no evidence of any due legal processes being applied. Tibet Society calls on the British government to issue a statement condemning the executions in the strongest possible terms and to urgently engage the Chinese government regarding the absence of due legal process apparent in the trials of those executed.
Source: TCHRD, Dharamsala: The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has received confirmed information from reliable sources that Lobsang Gyaltsen, Loyak, Penkyi and an unnamed Tibetan were executed on Tuesday, 20 October 2009 under the supervision of the Lhasa Municipality Intermediate People’s Court for their alleged involvement in last year’s mass protest in the Tibetan capital. Further information is awaited. No information on their execution was reported anywhere in the Chinese state media.
According to sources, the dead body of Lobsang Gyaltsen, from Lubug on the outskirt of Lhasa city, was handed over to his family and his dead body was later known to have been immersed in Kyichu River.
There is no information on whether the defendants appealed their sentences to the Supreme People’s Court after Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak to death on 8 April 2009.
According to the Chinese official mouthpiece dated 8 April 2009, Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court sentenced two people to death (Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak), two to suspended death penalties (Tenzin Phuntsok and Kangtsuk) and another (Dawa Sangpo) to life imprisonment on charges of arson causing death. The five were convicted of torching five shops in Lhasa, killing seven people, during the March 14 riot.
On 21 April 2009 the same court, according to the State media, sentenced three Tibetans (Penkyi of Nyemo County and Penkyi of Sakya County and Chime of Namling County) to suspended death, life and 10 years’ imprisonment respectively for setting fires that allegedly killed six people in Lhasa last year.
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