From Times Online
May 6, 2009
Lawyers secure release of Tibetan monk after six months without charge
Jane Macartney in Beijing
2009年5月6日《泰晤士报》
一位被关六个月没有起诉的西藏僧人,在两位律师介入下获得保释
(珍•麦卡尼在北京报道,台湾悬钩子翻译)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6231430.ece
中国关押一名西藏僧人六个月没有予以起诉,目前在两位中国著名维权律师的压力下,已经释放了他。
喇嘛久美,是一位42岁的僧人,已于5月2日获释,并且于隔天返回他的寺院,这是警察一年里第二次来到这里抄家、将他带走,而他离别已经六个月的家。
上个月接受委托此案的律师之一李方平,告诉《泰晤士报》:“他得到释放,一部份是因为证据不足。即使他谈起他在3•14事件后如何遭受警方酷刑,还是不足以构成犯罪案件。现在他以取保候审的方式获释。”
自去年3•14拉萨发生动荡,造成22人死亡,引起西藏高原各地的反中国统治示威以来,警察已经逮捕了好几百名藏人,许多人都只是僧人与平民。
李先生说,促成喇嘛久美获释的重要原因,乃是有律师出现,愿意替他辩护。
“警方告诉他,有律师要帮他的忙,他回答说他愿意得到辩护律师。然而我们还没见到他,他已经获得释放。”
喇嘛久美告诉李方平与江天勇律师,警方警告他不可以接受采访,也要尽量少跟别人见面。李律师说喇嘛久美告诉他,他的身体还好。
喇嘛久美,是拉卜楞寺闻思学院的僧人,因为在Youtube上(唯色更正:是在美国之音藏语电视节目播出录影带)张贴视频,坦言他在去年三月被关押后所受的磨难,因此令当局震怒。
他诉说他是在3月22日被关押,并且被盘问了两天,然后被带到附近县城的监狱里。
他说,那里的情况非常糟糕。“他们把我的手用绳子绑起来,吊在天花板上好几个小时,脚不着地。然后他们用拳头全力痛打我的脸、胸膛与背部。”
讯问他的官员想知道,他是不是3月15日拉卜楞寺外的抗议活动的发起人,还有他与藏区的流亡精神领袖达赖喇嘛是否有联系。
“最后,我终于失去知觉,被带到医院。当我在医院苏醒过来,他们就把我又带回监狱继续吊我、打我。”
喇嘛久美被送到医院急救第二次,几乎因为内伤而濒临死亡时,警方把他交给他的家人,家人把他送到另外一家医院,而他在二十天后终于被抢救回来。
而在视频公布之后,他好几个礼拜都躲起来,藏在山区,直到天气太冷,他返回寺院为止。就在他回去没几天后,警方就再度逮捕了他。
李律师与江律师近来已经是第二度挺身而出,帮助被关押的藏人。
康定的甘孜州法院在最后一分钟决定,暂缓对一位西藏仁波切的判刑,后者面临非法持有枪支弹药与侵占公有土地的指控,如果被定罪,可能会面临十五年的徒刑。
法学专家说,这样的动作对中国法院来说相当不寻常,可能代表法庭里辩护律师提出了非常有活力的辩词,还有此案所吸引的国际媒体报道,可能促成了法庭官员之间对于刑期的辩论。
Lawyers secure release of Tibetan monk after six months without charge
Jigme, a Buddhist monk, was released after his case attracted international publicity
Jane Macartney in Beijing
China has released a Tibetan monk held for six months without charge after pressure from two of China’s most prominent human rights lawyers.
Jigme, a 42-year-old lama, was released on May 2 and returned a day later to his monastery, half a year after dozens of police raided his quarters and took him away for the second time in a year.
Li Fangping, one of two lawyers who took up the monk’s case last month, told The Times: “He was released partly because there was insufficient evidence. Even though he spoke about how he was tortured after the March 14 incident, this was insufficient to make a criminal case. He is now released on bail.”
Police have arrested hundreds of Tibetans, among them monks and civilians, since a riot in the capital Lhasa on March 14 last year left 22 people dead and led to anti-Chinese demonstrations across the Tibetan plateau. Many have yet to be charged.
Mr Li said that an important factor in the decision to free the monk was the appearance of lawyers to argue on his behalf.
“When the police told him that lawyers had come forward to help him, he said he wanted legal representation. Before we even had time to see him, he had been released.”
The monk told Mr Li and another lawyer, Jiang Tianyong, that he had received a warning from the police not to accept interviews and to see as few people as possible. Mr Li said that the monk told him that he was as well as could be expected.
Jigme, a member of the Gyuto Dratsang or Upper Tantric College, one of six institutes of learning at Labrang Monastery, incurred the wrath of the authorities when he posted a video account on YouTube of his ordeals after the March unrest.
He described how he was detained on March 12 and questioned for two days before being taken to a prison in a nearby town.
Conditions there were harsh, he said. "They would hang me up for several hours with my hands tied to a rope ... hanging from the ceiling and my feet above the ground. Then they would beat me on my face, chest and back, with the full force of their fists."
His interrogators wanted to know if he was a leader of protests outside Labrang on March 15 and what contact he had with the Dalai Lama, the region’s exiled spiritual leader.
“Finally, on one occasion, I lost consciousness and was taken to hospital. After I regained consciousness at the hospital, I was once again taken back to prison where they continued the practice of hanging me from the ceiling and beating me."
After Jigme was taken to hospital for a second time, apparently on the verge of death from internal injuries, he was handed over to his family who took him to another hospital where he recovered after 20 days.
After making the video, he spent several weeks on the run, hiding in the mountains until the weather turned too cold and he returned to his monastery. He was taken away within days of his return.
It is the second time in recent weeks that Mr Li and Mr Jiang have come forward to help a detained Tibetan.
A court decided at the last minute to postpone judgment last month on a Tibetan living Buddha who faces 15 years in jail on charges of possessing illegal weapons and illegally seizing government land.
Legal experts said that such a move was unusual for a Chinese court and could indicate that the unusually spirited defence mounted in court and the international publicity the case attracted could have prompted debate among judicial officials over the sentence.
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