Four Tibetans sentenced to death for starting fires during unrest in Lhasa

The first known death penalty cases in the region since 2002 were handed down yesterday by the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People's Court.

Tibetan exile groups have condemned the convictions, which they say are politically motivated and carried out without adequate legal safeguards.

According to the Xinhua news agency, Lobsang Gyaltsen will be executed for arson attacks on two garment shops in central Lhasa on 14 March that killed a shop owner. The same sentence was handed down to Loyak for torching a motorcycle dealership in Deqen Township, which left five people dead, it said.