The Higher People's Court of Sichuan Province, in southwestern China, commuted the death penalty with a two-year reprieve for a Tibetan monk involved in terrorists bombings to life term on Wednesday.

A'an Zhaxi, also known as Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, was deprived of his political rights for life, according to the court verdict, which was handed down to him during the day.

The court commuted death penalty on A'an Zhaxi to life term because he did not intentionally violate the relevant law specifications again during the execution period of the past two-year reprieve, the court verdict said.

The Tibetan monk was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on Dec. 2, 2002 by the Intermediate People's Court of Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze in western Sichuan, for a crime of conducting terrorist bombings and inciting secession activities.

A'an Zhaxi then refused to accept the verdict from the trial of first-instance and appealed to the Sichuan provincial higher court, which rejected his appeal and upheld the original verdict in the second-instance trial and, on Jan. 26, 2003 handed down the verdict.

The court verdict noted that judicial authority had informed A'an Zhaxi of his legal rights as a suspect, provided the relevant legal documents in Tibetan when investigating and hearing the case.

The monk, hiring two defence lawyers at the court, had confessed to the crime, the court added.

After A'an Zhaxi's two-year reprieve ended, the provincial higher court heard and reviewed the case when the jail handed in a proposal of commuting his penalty.

Working hand in glove with his accomplice Lobsang Dondrup, A'an Zhaxi carried out bombings, which claimed one life and injured many others, some of them seriously, and handing out leaflets carrying secession contents at public sites time and again from January 2001 to April 2002.

A'an Zhaxi, born at Litang County of Garze in Sichuan in 1950, is currently serving his term in a local Sichuan jail, where is fairly and well treated.

Source: Xinhua