泰晤士报：西藏活佛普布泽仁仁波切被中国判刑

图1：普布泽仁仁波切受准拥有辩护律师，也许就是造成他的刑期较轻的原因。
图2：普布泽仁仁波切与僧人及弟子的合影。

泰晤士报：西藏活佛普布泽仁仁波切被中国判刑2009年12月30日

泰晤士报驻中国特派员：珍‧麦卡尼
翻译：台湾悬钩子


中国已经判一位广受敬爱的西藏喇嘛八年半有期徒刑，罪名是职务侵占（非法占领政府土地）与持有弹药。

康定县以西的（译按：甘孜州）中等人民法院，八个多月前审判普布泽仁仁波切后，现在才宣布他的刑期。该次审判也创下首例：去年暴动后被逮捕的藏人里，普布仁波切是第一位获准自己聘请辩护律师的人。

他被指控的两个罪名，最高可判十五年有期徒刑，很有可能是因他的两位律师在场，才阻止了法官求处更重的徒刑。法官也许担心判决一个更长久的刑期的话，会造成他的家乡，也是藏人占多数的地区，继续发生他的支持者群起反对中国人的动荡。他在西藏拥有数千信徒，在中国内地的其它地方也有许多信徒。

法院判他职务侵占罪获刑七年，持有弹药加刑一年多，藏人的消息来源告诉泰晤士报记者。

然而，他的律师却不能在法庭宣判时出庭，理由是这两位律师－－他们因愿意处理敏感的人权案子而出名－－在前不久已经失去了律师资格。

普布泽仁仁波切，是一位朱古，或称转世化身，因为能够说中文，所以找到了法律上的援助。

他是在去年五月十八日遭到逮捕的，就在他所主持的两座寺院的尼姑，在西藏首府拉萨发生致死暴动没多久，也上街抗议之后的第四天。

警察在搜索主持两座寺院并创办养老院的该位活佛的家里时，找到了一支仿制手枪与一百发子弹，警方说这些武器可能会造成严重的伤害甚至致人于死。

四川甘孜的地方官员，因不知道他的两位律师拥有人权律师的背景，在他们抵达当地之后，告诉他们，上级已经决定该位活佛一定得坐牢才能以儆效尤，为的是防止其他活佛也使用他们的影响力，动员反汉暴动。

他的家人说，法庭似乎没办法坐实他非法持有武器的罪名。一位拒绝说出自己名字的亲戚，告诉记者：“看起来他们是因为没办法坐实他拥有枪支，所以才改称弹药。至于职务侵占，这块土地是给活佛本人盖养老院的，所以根本没有非法的问题。”

在审判的时候，法院根本没有针对他持有枪支弹药的指控作任何调查，他的律师如此表示。至于非法侵占公有土地，他的律师申诉，普布泽仁仁波切自掏腰包，花了七万人民币（七千英镑）买下了他用来盖养老院的土地。

他的律师说：“这样一位备受尊敬的僧人，家里的客厅每天人来人往，是个公共场所。可能有人在那里事先放置枪支弹药。他的妻子说她先前打扫时从来没有见到过那些东西。”

普布泽仁仁波切是一位备受尊敬的佛教上师，名为布绒朗上师的第五世转世化身。他在七个月时被认证为活佛。现年五十三岁的他，一直等到混乱又极左的文化大革命、也是所有西藏寺院都被关闭的时期结束之后，才正式出家为僧，而那时他已经结婚有两个儿子了。

December 30, 2009
Tibetan 'living Buddha' Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche jailed by China

China has sentenced a revered Tibetan living Buddha to eight-and-a-half years in jail on charges of illegally occupying government land and possession of weapons.

The court in the western town of Kangding handed down the conviction more than eight months after Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche’s trial. It marked the first time a Tibetan arrested following last year’s riots had been allowed to select his own defence lawyers.

He had faced a maximum of 15 years in prison on the two charges and it is possible that the presence of his lawyers persuaded the judges from imposing an even longer term. The judges may also have been wary of handing down a lengthier sentence for fear of renewed outbreaks of anti-Chinese unrest among supporters in the mainly ethnically Tibetan region that is his home. He commands thousands of disciples in Tibet as well as in other areas of China.

The court sentenced him to seven years in prison on the charge of illegally occupying government land and to an additional year for possession of bullets, Tibetan sources told The Times.

However, his lawyers could not be present for the sentencing since both men – prominent for their willingness to handle sensitive human rights cases — were disbarred earlier this year.

Phurbu Rinpoche, a tulku or reincarnation, had been enabled by his ability to speak Chinese to find legal help.

The monk was arrested on March 28 last year, four days after nuns from two religious houses over which he presides took to the streets in demonstrations shortly after deadly rioting erupted in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

A police search of the home of the living Buddha, who presides over several religious houses and runs an old people’s home, turned up an imitation pistol and 100 rounds of ammunition that police said could cause severe injury or even be fatal.

Local officials, unaware that his lawyers had a background in human rights, had told them when they arrived that the leaders had decided that the living Buddha must be jailed as an example to prevent other reincarnations from using their influence to stir up anti-Chinese unrest.

His family said that the court appeared to have failed on charges of possession of illegal weapons. One relative, who declined to be identified, said: “It seems they couldn’t make the charge about a gun stand up so they used the bullets. As for illegally occupying land, this land was given to the living Buddha himself to build an old people’s home so there is no question of it being illegal.”

At the time of his trial, the court had made no attempt to investigate the weapons charges, his lawyer said. As for the illegal occupation of public land, his lawyer argued that the monk had spent 70,000 yuan (£7,000) of his money to buy the plot on which he built the old people’s home.

His lawyer had said: “The living room of such a venerated monk is a public place with people coming and going every day. Someone could have put the weapons there. His wife has said she had never seen them before when cleaning the house.”

Phurbu Rinpoche is the fifth incarnation of a revered Buddhist teacher, known by the title of Burongma. He was identified as a reincarnation when he was seven months old. Now 53, he did not formally become a monk until after the chaotic ultra-leftist Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 when all Tibetan monasteries were closed. By the time he took religious orders he was already married with two sons.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6971386.ece