21. Apr 2009
Tibetan arsonist gets suspended death sentence
(AFP; Xinhua) A Lhasa court has issued a suspended death sentence for one man and jail terms for two others for allegedly starting fires in riots in March 2008, Xinhua reported. The two fires killed six people. The report said a Tibetan man called Penkyi received the suspended death sentence for starting both fires in clothing stores. The first fire killed the store's ethnic Han Chinese owner, while the second claimed the lives of five store staff, it said. The other two Tibetans convicted, one of whom was also named Penkyi and the other Chimed, helped set the second fire, it said. The second Penkyi got a life term, while Chimed received 10 years in prison.