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A court in Spain has agreed to hear a lawsuit against former Chinese president Hu Jintao for allegedly committing genocide in Tibet.
Judges ruled that they were competent to handle the case because one of the activists, Tibetan monk Thubten Wangchen, is a Spanish citizen, BBC reported.
Hu was the Communist Party leader in Tibet in 1988-1992, when Chinese troops quelled mass protests.
In their lawsuit against Hu, who retired last year as President after a ten year tenure, the Madrid-based Tibetan Support Committee allege that as Communist leader in the region he was ultimately responsible for actions "aimed at eliminating the uniqueness and existence of Tibet as a country, imposing martial law, carrying out forced deportations, mass sterilisation campaigns, torture of dissidents".
The Spanish legal system recognises the universal justice principle, under which genocide suspects can be put on trial outside their home country.
But for Spain to hold the trial there is a requirement that at least one victim of alleged genocide must be a Spanish citizen, the report said.
Genocide, the gravest crime against humanity, is understood to mean actions aimed at the mass extermination of a whole group of people.
This is the first Tibet related case against China in recent years.
Over 100 Tibetans committed self immolations in recent months in Tibet and surrounding areas, protesting the Chinese rule and calling for the return of the Dalai Lama.
