Tibetan monks are charged

A COURT in south-west China has charged three Tibetan monks with “intentional homicide” for hiding a fellow monk and prevented him from getting treatment after he set himself on fire, state news agency Xinhua reported yesterday.

Overseas rights groups say that the monk, named Rigzin Phuntsog, committed the act to protest against government controls on the restive region of Tibet.

His death triggered protests in Aba, a mainly ethnic Tibetan part of Sichuan province that erupted in defiance against Chinese control three years ago.

The court in Aba will next week hear the case against monks Tsering Tenzin and Tenchum from the Kirti Monastery for “plotting, instigating and assisting in the self-immolation of a fellow monk,” Xinhua said.