BEIJING, Oct 14 (Reuters) - A Chinese court has sentenced eight Tibetan monks to between five years and life in prison for allegedly bombing a government building in Tibet during unrest there in March, the Free Tibet Campaign said on Tuesday.

China's official Xinhua news agency said in April that police had arrested nine monks from the Tongxia Monastery in Gyanbe Township in Tibet suspected of involvement in the bombing of a government building on March 23, and that they had all confessed to the crime.

Citing an unnamed source in the region, the London-based Free Tibet Campaign said that eight monks from the monastery were sentenced on Sept. 23 by the Chamdo Prefecture People's Court, from among a total of 11 Tibetans who had been arrested.

Two of the monks received life sentences, while the rest were given between five and 15 years in prison, the group said, adding that the youngest of them was 19 years old.

The group cited the source as saying that the case had been carried out without adequate legal oversight or due process, including that the monks were denied access to family and legal counsel.

"This case ... demonstrates the urgent need for international media and independent agencies to be allowed immediate and free access to all areas of Tibet to investigate the accounts of arbitrary detention and abuse of Tibetans," said Stephanie Brigden, director of Free Tibet.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a routine briefing on Tuesday that he had not heard of the reported sentencings, but that China was a country governed by the rule of law.

Envoys of the Dalai Lama are expected to hold fresh talks with Chinese officials later this month, the Tibetan government-in-exile has said.

The two sides have held a number of rounds of talks to try to ease tension in Tibet since violent riots broke out there in March. (Reporting by Jason Subler and Chris Buckley; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

AlertNet news is provided by