A court notice said the judges in their ruling Monday found there was no evidence the three were a threat to the public and ordered the government to immediately free them.[break]
The exiles were among nearly two dozen Tibetans arrested earlier in March for trying to storm the Chinese Embassy´s visa office in the capital Kathmandu. Tibetans in Nepal have protested regularly against China since 2008 _ a source of embarrassment to Nepal´s government, which wants strong ties with Beijing and has banned anti-China demonstrations.
Twenty-three exiles were ordered held for 90 days under the public security act, which allows authorities to take action against those determined to be a threat to the public. The three ordered released filed a petition challenging the government decision. The other 20 protesters remain jailed.
Thousands of Tibetan exiles live in Nepal, and hundreds more are allowed to pass through the country on their way to Dharmasala, India, where the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, lives in exile.
China claims Tibet has always been part of its territory, but many Tibetans say the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries until Chinese troops invaded in the 1950s. They say Beijing rules the region with a heavy hand and have called for independence or greater autonomy.
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