The Higher People's Court of Tibet
Autonomous Region reduced the sentences of three Nepalese drug
traffickers yesterday after they had appealed against an earlier
ruling.
Ravi Dahal's death sentence was suspended, Ishori Kumar
Shrestha's suspended death sentence reduced to life imprisonment
and Rewat Kumar Dahal's 15 years decreased to ten.
A court official said that in May 2003, Ravi and Rewat Dahal, at
the request of people abroad, arrived in Tibet and contacted
receivers of heroin shipments on several occasions. Shrestha was
asked to provide and check samples.
On May 28, overseas drug dealers trafficked a large amount of
heroin into Tibet, and hid it in a warehouse rented by Shrestha.
Ravi and Rewat Dahal then informed their clients to take
delivery.
Customs officers seized 29.85 kilograms of heroin and arrested
Shrestha in the warehouse. With his help they also tracked and
apprehended Ravi and Rewat Dahal.
The first trial by Lhasa Intermediate People's Court issued its
verdicts on May 30. The Higher People's Court modified the
punishments on the basis that they had only played the role of
go-betweens and that Shrestha provided vital information for the
other two's arrest.
The Higher People's Court of Tibet has kept the region's
Nepalese consulate general informed about the case.
(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2004)