Two Tibetans accused of inciting self-immolations were sentenced on Thursday. Following a trial held last Saturday, the two were convicted of intentional homicide in line with a legal ruling issued last month.
Lorang Konchok, 40, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and has been stripped of his political rights for life. His nephew, Lorang Tsering, 31, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and has been stripped of his political rights for three years, according to the court verdict.
The two incited and coerced eight people to self-immolate, resulting in three deaths, the Intermediate People’s Court of the Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba found.
[…] Lorang Konchok used his status as a “geshe,” or a high-level Tibetan religious scholar, to convince monks and others to self-immolate, the court found.
Lorang Konchok sent information regarding self-immolations to Samtan [“a member of an overseas ‘Kirti Monastery media liaison team'”]. The information was used by some overseas media as a basis for creating secessionist propaganda, according to the court.
Death with a two-year reprieve is generally commuted to life or fixed-term imprisonment at the end of the two years. According to Xinhua, this reduced sentence was given because Lorang Konchok had “recounted the main facts of the case, pled guilty and showed repentance during the trial”. His accounts have been used in state media to accuse overseas organizations and “the Dalai clique” of involvement in the protests.
