105 rioters surrender to police

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Source: CCTV.com | 03-19-2008 13:31

The Tibet Autonomous Regional government says over 100 people had surrendered themselves to police by Tuesday afternoon for involvement in the Lhasa riot that killed 13 people.

Vice-chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional government,  Baema Chilain, says that as of 11 p.m. on Tuesday, 105 rioters  have turned themselves in.

He says those rioters had been directly involved in the beating, smashing, looting and arson in Lhasa last Friday.

And some of them have turned in the money they looted.

Rioters killed 13 civilians and set fires at more than 300 locations and attacked schools, banks, hospitals, shops, government offices, utilities and state media offices.

The vice chairman says there are ample facts and plenty of evidence to prove that the riots were organized, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai Lama clique.

Baema Chilain, vice-chairman of Tibet Autonomous Regional Gov't, said, "The Dalai Lama clique has been having his orders accessed to Tibet by taking various measures. He also incited and deceived locals to involve in the riots. These show that the Dalai Lama clique has been engaging in activities of splitting China, destroying national unity."

He says the central government protects people's beliefs, but strongly opposes violent and separatist activities cloaked in religion.

Baema Chilain said, "The freedom of religion beliefs is one of the country's basic policies. We will continue to strictly implement this policy. But the law will never allow those who conduct separatist activities through religions."

A preliminary investigation showed at least over 370 business people and 32 enterprises had reported damages from the riot, with losses exceeding 99 million yuan, as of Tuesday night.

Editor:Zhang Ning