China jails Tibetan rioters from 3 yrs to life

A court in Tibet jailed 17 people for terms from three years to life for their roles in deadly riots in Tibet last month.

A court in Tibet on Tuesday jailed 17 people for terms from three years to life for their roles in deadly riots in the Himalayan region last month, Xinhua news agency said.

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The Lhasa Intermediate People's Court announced the verdicts at an "open trial" attended by more than 200 people, including Buddhist monks, medical workers and "masses from all walks of life", state television said.

It was the first batch of sentences announced since the March 14 violence.

China has blamed Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and his government-in-exile forplotting the riots, in which at least 18 "innocent civilians", according to Beijing, were killed by Tibetan mobs in the regional capital, Lhasa.