THIRTY people were sentenced yesterday to jail terms between three years and life for their roles in last month’s Lhasa unrest.

The Intermediate People’s Court of Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, handed down the sentences yesterday.

Soi’nam Cering, a driver with a Lhasa real-estate company, Basang, a monk, and Cering, a businessman, were sentenced to life, the court said.

The 30-year-old Cering was a businessman in Lingzhou County, about 70 kilometers from Lhasa. He was convicted of inciting others to commit arson, and looting shops and vehicles during riots in the county March 15 and 16.

His participation was described as a major cause of the persistent unrest in Lingzhou County.

Soi’nam Cering, born in 1988, was one of the mobs that burnt vehicles in a square near the Johkang Monastery, smashed police stations and fire engines with stones, and assaulted firemen during the riot that broke out in downtown Lhasa on March 14.

“He was convicted of arson and disrupting public services,” the court said in a press release.

Basang, a monk from Doilungdeqen County in Lhasa, led 10 people — including five monks — to destroy the local government office, smash and burn 11 shops and steal valuables, and attack policemen on duty.

Of the five monks who followed Basang, two were sentenced to 20 years and the other three 15 years.

The Lhasa violence left seven schools, five hospitals and 120 homes torched and 908 shops looted. Total damage was more than 244 million yuan (US$35 million).

A total of 18 innocent civilians and one police officer died in the riots, while 382 civilians and 241 policemen were injured. (Xinhua)