Beijing - A Chinese court has sentenced the founder of a Tibetan-language website to 15 years in prison after convicting him of "disclosing state secrets," while in a separate case a Tibetan blogger was sentenced to five years in prison, rights groups reported on Tuesday.

Kunchok Tsephel, 39, was given the longer sentence by The Intermediate People's Court in the Gannan Tibetan prefecture of the north-western province, apparently for charges linked to postings on his website and for passing on information about protests by Tibetans last year.

The court summoned relatives of Kunchok Tsephel to hear the sentence on November 12 following a closed trial, Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said.

Tibetan exiles told the group that Kunchok Tsephel's family members were unaware of his whereabouts from his arrest in February until they received the court summons.

Kunchok Tsephel founded the popular Tibetan literary and cultural website Chodme and had worked as a local environmental protection official and a teacher of Tibetan and English, the ICT said.

Friends said he was in poor health and was denied access to a lawyer because the charges against him were related to state secrets, which are loosely defined by China's ruling Communist Party.

In a separate case, a popular young Tibetan blogger was sentenced to five years in prison on November 14, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

A court in Golok prefecture in Qinghai province, which borders Gansu, convicted Kunga Tseyang on various charges including posting articles online, RSF said.

Kunga Tseyang was studying at a monastery in Gansu when he was arrested in March. He had written articles on Buddhism and Tibetan culture, and taken taken photographs for a local environmental protection office, it said.

News of the sentences comes during a visit to China by US President Barack Obama, who in a meeting with students on Monday promoted freedom of expression and "universal rights" that were "common to all people, regardless of culture."

Rights groups have reported the arrest or disappearance of several other Tibetan writers and online activists since widespread anti-Chinese protests in Tibetan areas early last year.

Violence erupted in March last year in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, following protests initially led by Buddhist monks.

Since the protests, the Chinese government had "stepped up efforts to silence Tibetans from speaking about the unrest, and have strengthened attempts to cover up the torture, disappearances and killings that have been part of the crackdown," the ICT said.

RSF urged the Chinese government to overturn the "heavy prison sentences, which two Tibetan writers have been given just for expressing their views."

"We deplore the increased repression since the major protests in Tibet in March 2008," it said.

According to Chinese officials, 19 people died in the riots in Lhasa last year but Tibetan exile groups put the figure at more than 100.

Two Tibetans were executed for their role in the violence in Lhasa and unconfirmed reports by rights groups suggested that at least two more were executed.

Dozens more Tibetans were sentenced to long prison terms or suspended death sentences earlier this year for offences linked to the rioting, state media reported.  (IANS)