Dharamshala: TibetPost-24-April2009-The Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPIE) released a press statement today, said that the Tibetan Government in Exile is deeply concerned over baseless accusation hurled by the PRC government on Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche of Karze county, eastern Tibet (Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture), a predominantly Tibetan area in Sichuan Province on weapons charges."We are certain that Rinpoche is falsely implicated of owning a pistol and bullets due to the participation of about 80 nuns from one of the nunnery headed by him, in a peaceful demonstration in Ganzi in May last year and for his popularity within the community, just as they implicated Trulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche earlier. Rinpoche was arrested on 18th May, 2008 and has suffered inhuman torture in prison and his family has been under severe intimidation by the Chinese Local government," said TPIE.
Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche is a very well respected 'Tibetan religious ficgure' Lama for his service to the community in not only religious matters but also social causes. Targeting Rinpoche for persecution and prosecution is aimed at creating fear among the general public to resist from participating in peaceful demonstrations. However, the Chinese government should understand that such tactics contribute to further aggravating the situation and alienating the Tibetans.
According to information, his case would be heard again on the 28th of this month at Dhartsedo and if convicted, he could be jailed for up to 15 years for no fault of his. We thank Beijing based lawyer Li Fangching for his attempt to defend Rinpoche and we seek similar help from other lawyers to defend innocent Tibetans. We call on the Government of China
to withdraw the unfounded case and to refrain from such random targeting of respected figures to instill fear among Tibetans.
We also urge the UN Human Rights Council to look into the matter and call on the Human Rights Organisations and Governments to intervene in this matter.
