China Sentences Tibetans in Self-Immolation Cases

Crackdown on opposition to Chinese Rule

A total of eight Tibetans were found guilty of inciting others to set fire to themselves to protest Chinese rule by two separate courts on Thursday, according to state media.

The sentences come as Chinese authorities pursue a hard-line approach to quell unrest in the country's Tibetan regions.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency said a court in Aba, a heavily Tibetan prefecture in western Sichuan province, sentenced 40-year-old Lorang Konchok to death with a two-year reprieve—a sentence commonly commuted to life imprisonment—saying he used his status to seek to convince eight people, including monks, to light themselves on fire.

His nephew, 31-year-old Lorang Tsering, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to Xinhua.