Thesun 2009-03-03 Page09 Activists Tibetan Monastery Surrounded After Protest

theSun

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| TUESDAY MARCH 3 2009

news without borders

Seduced women to testify at gigolo’s trial MUNICH: Four rich German women who were allegedly seduced by a smooth-talking Swiss gigolo are expected to testify against him in court this month, a prosecution spokesman said on Sunday in Munich. Among them will be publicity-shy mother-of-three Susanne Klatten, 46, reputedly Germany’s richest woman, who owns a large stake in the luxury car manufacturer BMW as well as a pharmaceuticals company. A news magazine, Focus, said the prosecution and defence agreed that the public and media must be excluded from the courtroom when the women describe their alleged trysts with Helg Sgarbi, who has been in custody since his arrest in Vomp, Austria last year. About a week ago, Italy released a co-accused from pre-trial custody on the grounds there was not enough evidence against him. Anton Winkler, the prosecutor, said, “If the accused does not admit the charges in their entirety, the victims have to testify.” But he added that in Germany it was the court’s responsibility to summon them, not the prosecutor’s. Klatten’s spokesman told the German Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag, “If a summons comes from the court,

she will testify.” News reports have portrayed Klatten as a dutiful businesswoman willing to endure public shame to bring Sgarbi to justice. Media claim Sgarbi was a serial seducer who used invented stories to persuade his wealthy victims to give him millions of euros. He has been indicted for serious fraud. He allegedly threatened to publish intimate pictures of Klatten and faces two counts of blackmail. The trial in Munich is scheduled to begin on March 9. German law punishes serious fraud with up to 10 years’ prison and blackmail with up to 15 years. – dpa

Activists: Tibetan monastery surrounded after protest Klatten... willing to testify against Sgarbi.

BEIJING: Security forces have surrounded a Tibetan monastery in a tense region of southwest China after monks there demonstrated against Chinese repression, activist groups said yesterday. They said that Sunday’s demonstration occurred in the same area of Sichuan province’s Aba prefecture where a monk set himself alight last week to protest against Chinese rule. Tensions are high in Tibetanpopulated areas ahead of the 50th anniversary on March 10 of a failed uprising against Chinese rule that led to revered spiritual leader the

Dalai Lama fleeing into exile. Several hundred monks at the Sey monastery in Aba staged the protest after Chinese officials banned prayers during a traditional Buddhist festival, the US-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said, citing sources there. “Several hundred monks marched from the monastery after officials banned them from praying, calling to be allowed to celebrate the Monlam prayer festival and for authorities to release all Tibetan prisoners,” the group said. It said armed police had surrounded the monastery after the

Months after melamine, China food safety ‘grim’ BEIJING: China said yesterday food security remains “grim”, despite campaigns launched after several health scares, the most recent one last year’s tainted milk formula which killed at least six toddlers and made almost 300,000 sick. A new food-safety law, approved on Saturday, attempts to fix a fragmentary regulatory system which officials believe led to recurring food problems. “At present, China’s food-security

situation remains grim with high risks and contradictions,” the Ministry of Health said in documents handed to reporters yesterday. “The food safety law, which takes effect on June 1, sets quality and safety standards for products and lays out a regulatory system as well as a risk-monitoring system.” China approved in principle a new food safety law in October 2007 follow-

ing a raft of scandals involving unsafe toothpaste, seafood and pet food, among other products. It has since been rocked by last September’s milk scandal in which melamine, an industrial compound used in making kitchen counter tops, was added to milk and other products to cheat nutrition tests, prompting Chinese-made products to be stripped from shelves worldwide. – Reuters

monks returned there, and it was now likely to be under a lockdown, although it had no more information. The New York-based Students for a Free Tibet also reported Sunday’s rally, and that the military had sealed the monastery. The Dalai Lama, other exiles and activist groups have reported a massive security build-up in Tibet and the neighbouring areas of western China with Tibetan populations, such as Aba, ahead of the uprising anniversary. Getting independent information from the areas is extremely difficult. Travel agencies have said that foreign tourists have been banned from visiting Tibet during March, while the international media remain barred from travelling to the Himalayan region independently. Government officials and police in Abe contacted yesterday said they did not know of Sunday’s reported protest. On Friday, a monk set himself on fire near the Kirti monastery, which is several kilometres from the Sey monastery. Chinese authorities on Saturday confirmed a man had set himself alight. – AFP