29 April 2008
China jails 17 over Tibet riots
(BBC; Xinhua) Chinese state media reports that a court in Lhasa has jailed 17 people for taking part in riots in the capital Lhasa last month. The prison terms are reported to range from three years to life. According to Xinhua, seven schools, five hospitals and more than 100 homes were set on fire in the violence. Chinese reports say the rioters killed at least 19 people. The Intermediate People's Court in Lhasa handed down the verdicts at an "open court session" attended by more than 200 people, including Buddhist monks, medical workers and "masses from all walks of life", state television reported. The court said that one of the two men sentenced to life imprisonment had been convicted of "arson and disrupting public services". It said the other had attacked fire engines and police stations and assaulted firemen.