Two others were given suspended death sentences while another was given life in prison in three separate cases, said the report, which quoted a spokesman for the intermediate court in the Tibetan capital.

Fierce anti-China riots broke out in Lhasa in March last year and spread across Tibet and adjacent areas with Tibetan populations, deeply embarrassing the Chinese government as it was preparing to host the Beijing Summer Olympics.

China blamed the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for inciting the violence and responded with a massive security crackdown on the region that has remained in place ever since.

--inhua said the crimes committed by the five defendants resulted in seven deaths and the destruction of five shops in Lhasa.

The defendants all appeared to be Tibetans who carried out attacks that killed Han Chinese, according to names provided by --inhua.

Those sentenced to death included a defendant identified as Losang Gyaltse, who set fire to two Lhasa garment shops on March 14, killing a shop owner named Zuo Rencun, the report said.

Another defendant named only as Loyar got the death penalty for an arson attack on a motorcycle dealership a day later that killed five people including the shop owner Liang Zhiwei, his wife, son and two employees.

One of Loyar's accomplices got a suspended death sentence while another got life in prison.

In a third case, defendant Tenzin Phuntsog received a suspended death sentence for starting a fire that eventually killed a Chinese shop owner's daughter.

--inhua said the court was still hearing a separate arson case that led to another five deaths.

Court and government officials in Tibet were not immediately available for comment.

China has said “rioters” were responsible for 21 deaths, while saying that its security forces had killed only one “insurgent.”