01 July 2008
Police stop Tibetan protesters near Chinese border
(AP) Nepali police detained 42 Tibetan monks and nuns after the group trekked for five days through the Himalayas to protest against China's crackdown in Tibet, officials said. Police blocked the protesters' path about seven miles from the Tibet-Nepal border. Police asked them to turn around, and when they refused, they were all detained, said police official Birendra Shahi. AP reports that police did not use force, but loaded the protesters into trucks and drove them to the nearest town. The protesters had avoided walking along the main highway from the capital fearing they would be arrested by Nepali police, but as they approached the border they left the mountain trail and marched openly on the main highway waving Tibetan flags and banners that said, "Free Tibet. Save Tibet. Restore human rights".