A Chinese court on Monday sentenced a Tibetan monk to 11 years in prison for plotting and instigating the self immolation of a fellow monk in protest against curbs on them, which drew international attention.
The local court in southwest Sichuan Province sentenced a Tibetan lama to 11 years in prison for intentional homicide over another monk's self-immolation death, state run Xinhua reported.
Another two monks, Tsering Tenzin and Tenchum, will stand trial on Tuesday over murder charges for involvement in the same self-immolation case.
Drongdru, a monk in the Kirti Monastery in Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, was given the sentence because he hid the injured monk and prevented emergency treatment, causing the 16-year-old's death due to belated treatment, the verdict from the Maerkang county people's court in Aba said.
Phuntsog, a disciple and nephew of Drongdru, set himself on fire on March 16 and was hidden for 11 hours. He died the next morning after treatments failed at a local hospital.
Drongdru, 46, pleaded guilty to the murder charge and said he felt very regretful over the hiding and prevention of emergency treatment and asked for leniency, according to the news report. Drongdru said at the court room that he would not appeal against the verdict.
Nearly 100 local people including several monks referred to as living Buddhas heard the first-instance trial.
