News and Views on Tibet

Monk executed

Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter

By ADAM EWING
Colorado Daily Staff

Boulder sources yesterday confirmed that Tibetan monk Lobsang Dhondup was executed by Chinese authorities after a secret re-trail in China’s Sichuan province Saturday.

According to a press statement from the CU-Boulder chapter of Students for a Free Tibet, a Chinese court upheld the death sentence of a second man, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. Both men were accused and convicted of bombings and inciting separatist activities in Tibet last year.

The original re-trial was scheduled for Jan.10 but was postponed at the last last moment. The re-trail reportedly took place this weekend and concluded with the immediate execution of Dhondup and the upholding of Rinpoche’s death sentence.

Rinpoche received a two-year suspension of his sentence in his first trial in Dec.2002.

The execution of Dhondup was a sudden surprise to many worldwide. Activists in Boulder Monday scrambled to try to organize a protest of the execution. Tashi Dhondup, of CU-Boulder’s Students for a Free Tibet – no relation to executed man – said via phone Monday he was “shocked by the news.”

Dhondup said he and 20 to 30 others would protest at Denver Mayor Wellington Webb’s office tomorrow between 1 p.m. and 2.p.m.

“This situation clearly shows the political climate and humanitarian crisis in Tibet,” said Dhondup.

Students for a Free Tibet in New York organized 50 members to march to the Chinese mission in New York City Monday, according to Executive Director John Hocevar.

Hocevar said more protests are scheduled during the next few days in Washington, D.C. and again in New York City.

In a press release from Monday, Hocevar said,” China’s actions cannot go unanswered.”

He also said China’s secrecy of the trial toward the U.S. State Department was a “slap in the face to anyone trying to dialogue with the Chinese government…”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *