China sentenced six Tibetan political activists to prison terms ranging from seven years to life for ''splittist'' activities, a prison official confirmed on Monday.
Chinese authorities in the Himalayan region arrested the six separately in March 2000, according to an advocacy group affiliated with the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile in Dharmsala, India.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said the activists range in age from 27 to 64 and are from one county in eastern Tibet's Nagchu Prefecture.
The Centre said the six were tried at Nagchu Intermediate People's Court on charges of colluding with the ''Dalai splittist clique and carrying out activities endangering state security''. Evidence included wood-block prints and posters that advocated independence for Tibet, and cassette recordings of speeches by the Dalai Lama, the Centre said.
The Tibetan spiritual leader fled into exile in 1959 after a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule. China accuses him of seeking to free Tibet from Chinese control. The Dalai Lama says he wants autonomy, not independence for the region.
An official at Tibet's No. 1 Prison, also known as Drapchi Prison, on Monday confirmed the sentences and said all six are serving their terms there. He would identify himself only as Mr Qiong.
A Tibetan named Sey Khedup, 27, received the harshest sentence of life imprisonment, the Centre said. It said he may have drawn that term by trying to claim sole responsibility for all the charges at the trial.