The trials and sentences of the people jailed for their involvement in the March 14 riot last year in Lhasa, Tibet were in line with Chinese laws and fair, said judges and lawyers Thursday.

The trials for the suspects had strictly followed the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China and the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, said Gaisang Doje, deputy head of the criminal tribunal of the Lhasa Intermediate People's Court, in an interview with Xinhua.

The proceedings were conducted in Tibetan. The court also provided translations among the defendants and the Han judges and lawyers.

All the fees for translation and lawyers during the proceedings were paid by the regional center for legal aid.

"We have designated defence lawyers for the suspects who could not afford to hire their own lawyers," he said. "The lawyers' ideas were fully respected during the trials."

"The defendant Yexe told me that the police did not extort or torture him for a confession and food in the prison is good," said lawyer Sun Wenge.

"His jail term was shorter than I expected," Sun said.

Yexe, 23, assaulted stores and restaurants and stoned police at the gate of the Public Security Bureau of Lunzhub County on March 15. He also incited others to set fire to a vehicle, the court heard.

He was convicted of creating disturbance and assembling to assault state organs.

"He would have faced a jail term of up to 15 years, but as he surrendered himself, the court adopted my opinions and shortened the term to 12 years," Sun said.