Four detained over Tibet protests as flame arrives

THE Olympic flame approached the final destination of its long and sometimes contentious global tour yesterday, greeted by rapturous crowds in the Chinese capital two days before it officially launches the games.

Amid the celebrations however, two British Free Tibet campaigners remained in custody in the country after unfurling a Tibetan flag outside the Olympic stadium. Lucy Fairbrother, 23, and Iain Thom, 24, were arrested in Beijing alongside two US activists. All four are expected to be deported at the earliest opportunity, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.

As the British Embassy in the Chinese capital continued to try to get access to the pair, who are members of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), their families spoke of their pride.

London-based Fairbrother has been involved with SFT since she was a student and was president of the group at Bristol University before graduating last summer. Her mother Linda said: “Lucy is fighting for the freedom and democracy of Tibet and is doing what she feels is right and what I feel is right. Obviously I’m worried — any parent would be — but I am certain that China would not resort to torture or abuse when the eyes of the world are upon them.”

Thom’s father Brian, 53, of Inverness, said his son’s interest in Tibet had been sparked as a student and he had visited the region after graduating from college.

He said he was aware of his son’s protest plans before he left for China, but did not try to stand in his way.

He said: “I felt he was so passionate about it I couldn’t say don’t do it. In fact, I wholeheartedly backed him to do it.”

Thom, who lives in Edinburgh, is a grassroots co-ordinator for the organisation and has also worked for Friends of the Earth. He recorded a statement while he made the protest, which was released by SFT.

“We did this action today to highlight the Chinese government’s use of the Beijing Olympics as a propaganda tool. They are whitewashing their human rights record on Tibet so our action today shines a spotlight on those atrocities.”

The SFT website named the two Americans as Phill Bartell, 34, from Boulder, Colorado, and Tirian Mink, 32, from Portland, Oregon. A British Embassy spokesman said: “We are aware of reports of two British nationals being detained near the national stadium in Beijing. We are in touch with the Chinese authorities and are requesting immediate consular access should this... be correct.”

The Internationl Olympic Committee communications director Giselle Davies said Beijing organisers would open special zones for protests when the Games started. She said: “People were always going to use the Olympic Games as a platform for their causes, that happens at every Olympics and everyone knew that could happen here.”