Trials in Chinese monk self-immolation death (AP)

BEIJING ? The first trial opened Monday in the cases of three Tibetan Buddhist monks charged with murder in western China over the self-immolation death of a colleague in what was described as a political protest.

The March 16 death of Rigzin Phuntsog, 16, was seen by fellow monks and observers as a political protest against China's heavy-handed controls on Tibetan Buddhism and provoked a standoff between security forces and monks.

Authorities accuse two monks, Tsering Tenzin and Tenchum, of plotting, instigating, and assisting in the self-immolation. A third, Drongdru, is accused of moving and hiding the injured monk, preventing him from receiving emergency treatment for 11 hours and eventually leading to his death.

One of the monks went on trial on Monday and two more will follow on Tuesday, a clerk with the Maerkang County People's Court in Sichuan province's Aba prefecture said.

The clerk, who gave only his surname, Zhou, said he did not know which monk went on trial Monday nor how long the trials would last, although the outcomes in such cases are usually predetermined by authorities.

The monastery where the incident occurred, Ngaba Kirti in Sichuan province, is under tight guard by security forces who are accused by pro-Tibetan groups overseas of beating onlookers and detaining monks. The area is off-limits to foreign journalists.

The circumstances surrounding the monk's death remain murky, and in June, China rejected pressure from a U.N. human rights panel to provide information about more than 300 of Kirti's monks whose whereabouts it said are unknown since the monastery was raided in April.

The Foreign Ministry said only that monks were undergoing "legal education" ? a reference to hours-long compulsory political lectures on the basics of the Chinese constitution, criminal law and regulations on religious affairs.

Tibetan monks tend to be fiercely loyal to Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, who is reviled by Beijing. As custodians of Tibet's Buddhist culture, they tend to be especially concerned about China's tight controls over monasteries that take time away from religious study and practice.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110829/ap_on_re_as/as_china_monk_dies

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