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Tibetan writer jailed for five years

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Tibetan protesters in Amdo Labrang, Gansu province, on 18 March 2008.File photo/TCHRD handout

Chinese authorities last week sentenced a Tibetan writer to five years in prison on charges of “disclosing state secrets”, according to a Tibetan rights group in Dharamshala, India.

Kunga Tsayang, a monk of Amdo Labrang Tashikyil Monastery in north-eastern Tibet, was convicted and sentenced for five years in prison by Kanlho Intermediate People’s Court in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, on 12 November 2009, according to a press release by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

TCHRD says that the verdict was given in a closed-door trial.

Kunga was arrested during a midnight raid at his room on 17 March 2009, on charges of posting political essays on a website Zin-dris or Jottings, run by Tibetans in the region.

He was under close watch of the Chinese authorities in Labrang following major protests that gripped the Tibetan plateau last year. His family and friends had no idea where he was detained since his arrest until he was brought to the court hearing last week.

Reports indicate that the same court on the same day sentenced the founder of a Tibetan literary website to 15 years in prison also on charges of “disclosing state secrets”. Kunchok Tsephel, 39, has been detained by police since 26 February, who had also worked in a Chinese government environmental department. His website Chomei or Butter-lamp, promotes Tibetan culture, and also pass on information about anti-government protests by Tibetans.

As a writer, Kunga Tsayang, wrote under the pen name Gang-Nyi or Sun of Snowland. He chronicled the life of the new generation of Tibetans.

He is the author of several critical and compelling essays on Tibet, including, “Who is the real splittist?” “Who is the real disturber of stability?” and “Who is the real instigator of protests?”

Kunga is also an amateur photographer, and has captured the environmental degradation on the Tibetan plateau and its impact on the people in his photographs.

His travelogues describes the characteristic features of Tibetan landscapes, culture, customs, habits and religious heritage.

TCHRD says that the Chinese authorities over the years have targeted, detained and sentenced Tibetan writers, bloggers and publishers who did not engage in overt protest activity, but who sought to explore and express Tibetan views on issues that affect Tibetan people’s rights, culture, religion and Tibet’s fragile environment.

TCHRD expressed concern over the secretive and closed-door nature of the trials under which Kunga Tsayang and Kunchok Tsephel were tried and sentenced. TCHRD urges the Chinese government to honour the fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people.

Copyright © 2009 Tibet Sun

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