ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece –
4 Tibetan activists have been faraway from outdoors the archaeological website of historical Olympia and detained on Monday, an hour earlier than the beginning of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics torch lighting ceremony.
The activists, three girls and one man, have been taken to the police station in historical Olympia, a spokesperson for the group of activists mentioned. The spokesperson mentioned they’d neither protested nor unfurled any banners.
An historical Olympia police station official informed Reuters the 4 had been detained, however not arrested.
“We have no idea but the way it will develop,” the police official mentioned. “We can’t give out any extra data at this level.”
Two human rights activists protested in Athens on Sunday and have been arrested. They’d unfurled a Tibetan flag and hung a banner studying “Free Hong Kong – Revolution” from the Acropolis monument.
Extra protests are anticipated on Tuesday when the flame might be handed over in Athens to Beijing Video games organizers.
The Chinese language capital will change into the primary metropolis to host each the Winter and Summer season Video games when it levels the Feb. 4-20 occasion nevertheless it faces protests and requires boycotts over the nation’s human rights report have marred the run-up.
Rights teams and U.S. lawmakers have referred to as on the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the Video games and relocate the occasion until China ends what the USA deems ongoing genocide towards Uyghurs and different Muslim minority teams.
Chinese language authorities have been accused of facilitating compelled labor by detaining round one million Uyghurs and different primarily Muslim minorities in camps since 2016.
China denies wrongdoing, saying it has arrange vocational coaching facilities to fight extremism.
Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, enhancing by Ed Osmond)
