French Communist Party leader Marie-George Buffet called for the release of Tibetan monk

French Communist Party leader Marie-George Buffet called for the release of Tibetan monk Tensin Deleg Rinpoche, convicted in China for a spate of bomb blasts, whose two-year stay of execution was due to rn out on December 2. "At a time when China is preparing to host the Olympic Games in Beijing, which will open it to the world, human rights must be respected by every man and woman in the country," a party statement said. Tensin Deleg, 52, was sentenced to death in December 2002 along with Lobsang Dhondup, a 28-year-old activist, for an April 2002 bomb attack in Sichuan's capital Chengdu, in which one person was killed and another injured. They were also found guilty of further explosions in the Ganzi region of west Sichuan. Both men denied the charges, and the case prompted an international outcry. Lobsang Dhondup was executed in January 2003, but Tensin Deleg was given a two-year suspended sentence, which is normally reduced to life imprisonment, but it was unclear if this would happen in his case as Tibetans were treated differently due to the politically sensitive nature of the region.