美联社、英国每日电讯今日报道布绒朗仁波切被判刑

中国政府判处西藏一位高级喇嘛入狱八年半
作者：GILLIAN WONG 译者：JOHN LEE
美联社，2009-12-31
译自《华盛顿邮报》2008年12月31日

北京——中国政府以非法占有土地和拥有弹药的罪名，判处一位广受爱戴的西藏喇嘛八年半的徒刑。一位律师说，这可能是2008年西藏首府发生骚乱以来，第一位受到重刑判决的佛教领袖。

中国西南部四川省的一家法院对普布泽仁（Phurbu Tsering）仁波切进行了判决，他是四川省甘孜藏族自治州的一座寺院的主持，来自北京的律师江天勇说。

普布泽仁仁波切是一位佛教大德，或称喇嘛，在当地广受爱戴。在80多名尼姑举行了反对政府在她们的寺院进行“爱国主义教育”的抗议示威几天之后，普布泽仁仁波切于2008年5月18日遭到逮捕。在政府进行的“爱国主义教育”运动中，僧尼们被强迫去谴责西藏的精神领袖达赖喇嘛。

活动人士组织的国际支援西藏运动（ICT），曾经把普布泽仁仁波切描述为一位“因致力于社区工作而广受爱戴的当地人士”，他所做的工作包括在甘孜州建立了一所养老院和两个诊所，对他的拘捕使得当地藏人民怨沸腾。

在仁波切于四月份第一次受到审判的八个月后，法院的判决于12月23日下达。有关当局说，在他住所的床下发现了一支手枪和100多发子弹。

他的律师说，他在历时四天的警方审讯之后被迫作供，其间警方威胁要拘捕他的家人。这位53岁的仁波切曾面临入狱15年的威胁。

最初为仁波切提供建议的两名律师之一，江律师说他曾否认所有对仁波切的指控。江律师说，法院拒绝他和另一位著名的人权律师李方平在后来的审判中担任仁波切的辩护律师。

“我们不相信对他的任何指控有充分的证据，”江律师说。普布泽仁仁波切因非法占有土地的罪名被判处了入狱7年多，这块土地与他建立的那家养老院有关。仁波切说，他是通过合法手段获得这块土地的。

法院还以非法拥有弹药罪判处他1年半的徒刑。

江律师还说，有关律师和仁波切的家人都认为他应该上诉以求减刑。“但是我们不知道他是否愿意上诉。我想通过这个案件他已经对中国的法院失去信心。”

山高路险的甘孜州是一个遍布僧尼寺院、虔信佛教的地区，居民绝大多数为藏人，今年来一直是一个抗议中心。2008年春天，在这里发生了数起最为激烈的抗议活动。

2008年3月14日拉萨爆发的抗议导致了近几十年来最为严重的藏人起义。根据中国官方报道，这次暴动在拉萨导致22人丧生。政府媒体说，在动乱之后有超过950人遭到拘捕并有几十人因参与抗议而受到判决。

北京方面说，这些抗议示威是达赖喇嘛和他的支持者组织的一系列暴力活动的一部分，目的在于推翻中国在西藏的统治，并阴谋破坏2008年8月份在北京举办的奥运会。

五十年前，达赖喇嘛在一场反抗中国统治的起义失败后逃离中国，他否认了这项指控并说他只是寻求西藏在中国统治下获得有意义的自治。

China jails senior Tibetan lama for 8 1/2 years
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/31/AR2009123100277.html

FILE - In this file photo taken on Nov. 23, 2005 and released on April 22, 2009 by the International Campaign for Tibet, Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche is seen in Ganzi, southwestern China's Sichuan province. China has sentenced the respected Tibetan lama to eight-and-a-half years in jail for illegal land occupation and ammunition possession, possibly the first Buddhist leader tried for serious charges linked to riots in 2008 in the Tibetan capital, a lawyer said Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009 (AP Photo/International Campaign for Tibet, File) (AP)
By GILLIAN WONG
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 31, 2009; 3:29 AM

BEIJING -- China has sentenced a respected Tibetan lama to 8 1/2 years in jail for illegal land occupation and ammunition possession, possibly the first senior Buddhist leader tried on serious charges linked to riots in 2008 in the Tibetan capital, a lawyer said Thursday.

A court in southwestern Sichuan province bordering Tibet convicted Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, who headed a convent in Ganzi, a predominantly Tibetan prefecture in the province, Beijing-based attorney Jiang Tianyong said.

Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche is a Buddhist priest, or lama, and is highly respected. He was arrested May 18, 2008, just days after more than 80 nuns in Ganzi held a demonstration against an official campaign to impose "patriotic re-education" on their convents, in which they were required to denounce Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The International Campaign for Tibet, an activist group, has described Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche as a "deeply respected local figure known for his work in the community" - including the building of a center for the aged and two clinics in Ganzi prefecture - whose detention aroused deep resentment among local Tibetans.

The sentence was handed down Dec. 23, eight months after the monk first went on trial in April, after authorities said they found a pistol, more than 100 bullets under a bed in his living room.

His lawyers said he was forced into making a confession following a four-day police interrogation and threats to detain his family. The 53-year-old monk had faced up to 15 years in jail.

Jiang, one of two attorneys who advised the monk from early in the case, said he had pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court did not allow Jiang and Li Fangping, another well-known activist lawyer, to represent the monk in later trial sessions, Jiang said.

"We don't believe there was sufficient evidence to convict him on either of the charges," Jiang said. Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche was sentenced to more than seven years in jail on the charge of illegal expropriation of land, which was related to the center for the aged he set up. The monk says the land was given to him lawfully.

The court sentenced him to about another 1 1/2 years for possession of ammunition.

Jiang added that the lawyers and the monk's family believed he should appeal for a lighter sentence. "But we don't know if he will appeal. I think he has lost confidence in China's courts since this case."

A rugged, deeply Buddhist region filled with monasteries and nunneries, Ganzi is known for its strong Tibetan identity and has been at the center of dissent for years. It saw some of the most violent protests in spring 2008.

Rioting that broke out in Lhasa on March 14, 2008, led to the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades. The violence in the capital killed 22 people, according to Chinese officials. State media say more than 950 people were detained after the rioting and dozens of people sentenced for their part in the protests.

Beijing says the demonstrations were part of a violent campaign organized by the Dalai Lama and his supporters to throw off Chinese rule in Tibet and sabotage the Beijing Olympics in August 2008.

The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet 50 years ago amid an uprising against Chinese rule, has denied the charge and says he seeks only significant autonomy for Tibet under continued Chinese rule.


西藏活佛被判入狱8年

一位西藏高级宗教领袖，人们通常称为“活佛”，在去年的抗议活动之后被捕，近日被判处入狱8年半。

作者： Malcolm Moore in Shanghai 译者：JOHN LEE
译自《英国每日电讯》2009年12月31日

52岁的普布泽仁仁波切是甘孜县布绒朗寺和雅底尼姑寺的主持，在2008年5月18日被捕。

四天之前，属于他管辖的尼姑寺的尼姑们对中国在这个地区强制开展“爱国主义教育”运动举行了抗议。当时由于时逢达赖喇嘛流亡、中国开始统治西藏50周年，西藏形势高度紧张。

普布泽仁仁波切创办了一所照顾老人和孤残儿童的慈善机构，他最初被指控非法拥有枪支弹药。警方说，他们在他的住所发现了一支手枪和一百多发子弹。他后来还被指控非法占有国有土地。

仁波切的律师团队说，那些枪支弹药是栽赃陷害并且仁波切还遭受了刑讯逼供。他们还说，由于他的财产来自转让，因而没有完备的书面手续。

今年的第一次审判引发了广泛的媒体关注，判决书一直没有下达。“这位宗教领袖的故事，正象征了北京对西藏人的铁腕政策，”著名的西藏活动人士唯色说。甘孜县地方政府将这起案件视作这个地区最大的“不稳定因素”。

在康定举行的第二次审判中，仁波切的律师们被剥夺了辩护人资格，而仁波切的家人也被禁止聘请新的律师团队，被迫使用法院指定的辩护律师。尽管仁波切最后被免于非法拥有枪支的指控，他依然因非法占有国有土地罪被判七年，以及因非法拥有子弹被判一年半。

Tibetan 'Living Buddha' sentenced to eight years in jail
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/tibet/6911195/Tibetan-Living-Buddha-sentenced-to-eight-years-in-jail.html

A senior Tibetan religious leader, known as a "Living Buddha", has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after being arrested in the wake of protests last year.
By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
Published: 11:09PM GMT 30 Dec 2009

Mr Phurbu was initially charged with the illegal possession of firearms.

Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, the 52-year-old head of the Pangri and Yatseg nunneries in Kardze county, was arrested in a dawn raid on May 18, 2008.

Four days earlier, nuns belonging to his nunneries staged protests against China's compulsory "patriotic education" campaign in the region. Tensions were high in Tibet at the time in the wake of the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight into exile and the beginning of Chinese rule.

Mr Phurbu, who also operated a home for the elderly and took care of orphans and handicapped children, was initially charged with the illegal possession of firearms. Police said they discovered a pistol and more than 100 rounds of ammunition hidden in his house. He was also later charged with the illegal occupation of state land.

The monk's legal team said the firearms had been planted and a confession extracted through torture. They added that while his property had been ceded to him, the paperwork had not been drawn up correctly.

An initial trial last year provoked a wave of media attention and a verdict was never returned. "The story of this religious leader is symptomatic of Beijing's heavy-handed treatment of Tibetans," said Woeser, a leading Tibetan activist. The local government in Kardze county viewed his case as one of the biggest causes of "instability" in the region.

At a second trial in Kangting, the monk's lawyers were disqualified from representing him and his family was forbidden to hire a fresh legal team and forced to use a court-appointed defence. Although he was acquitted of the illegal possession of a firearm, he was given seven years for illegally occupying state land and a further one-and-a-half years for possessing the bullets.