By KUNA,
Tokyo : Seventeen people were sentenced to jail terms on Tuesday ranging from three years to life in connection with the riots in Tibet’s capital of Lhasa last month, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
The Intermediate People’s Court of Lhasa passed down the sentences at an open court session, according to Xinhua, but it gave no details of the charges brought against those jailed.
The 17 were the first to be sentenced after Tibet and neighboring provinces were hit by a series of riots and anti-government protests in March and early April.
A total of 18 innocent civilians and one police officer died in the unrest that erupted Lhasa on March 14, in addition to 382 injured civilians and 241 policemen, according to Xinhua.
Seven schools, five hospitals and 120 homes torched and 908 shops looted, and total damage was more than CNY 244 million (USD 35 million), it said.
China occupied Tibet in 1951. The March 14 riots were the largest anti-government demonstrations in Lhasa for nearly 20 years.
The protests began March 10 when hundreds of monks staged a rare demonstration on the 49th anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising crushed by the Chinese army.