14 March 2008 :

this evening authorities in the Kangra district, in northern India, arrested and detained more than 100 participants of the “March to Tibet” for ten hours. The 100, mainly Tibetan nuns and monks, were then sentenced to 14 days for refusing to abandon the march. This was made public by the Radical delegation that participated in the march that began on March 10. The delegation comprised Sergio D'Elia, Parliamentarian and Hands Off Cain secretary, Matteo Mecacci and Marco Perduca, Senate Vice Presidents of the Non Violent Radical Party.
The demonstrators are in a detention centre in Yateri Niwas and if in 14 days they haven’t signed a commitment to stop the march, the Tibetan militants risk 5 years in jail under a law governing the presence of foreigners in India.
The demonstrators immediately began a hunger strike, that the three radical exponents have joined, to guarantee the right to demonstrate and to continue the “March to Tibet”. In the next few hours it is possible that they will start more initiatives.
For these reasons, D’Elia, Mecacci and Perduca will prolong their presence in India to follow the non violent struggle of the Tibetan militants.
Meanwhile, the number of European Parliamentarians backing the appeal launched yesterday by Marco Pannella and Marco Cappato to support the Uiguro people in the Chinese Oriental Turkestan region and Rebiya Kadeer, non violent Uigura leader and Non Violent Radical Party exponent, reached 102.
Amongst the signatories are the three Italian vice presidents of the European Parliament Mario Mauro, Luigi Cocilovo and Luisa Morgantini, the presidents of the Graham Watson group (ALDE), Monica Frassoni and Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Verdi), and Cristiana Muscardini (UEN).