§ Mr. BestTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to secure the release of the Tibetan religious leader, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, from prison in China. [140352]
§ Mr. RammellWe have raised the case of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche with the Chinese authorities on a number of occasions. At the latest round of the biannual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue held in Beijing on 10–11 November the Chinese again confirmed that he had appealed against his original sentence (death sentence with two year suspension) but that the original verdict had been upheld. We also raised our concerns about his welfare and medical treatment.