Home > News Archive > Activists ask for release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche

Activists ask for release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche

Tibet Sun newsroom | Tibet Sun

People signing petition asking for the release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche in Mcleod Ganj, India, on 16 June 2010.Photographer unknown

Exile Tibetans joined with activists world-wide in a global day of action for the release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a highly revered religious leader from eastern Tibet, who is currently serving a life sentence in a Chinese prison.

Activists in Dharamshala sent petitions signed by more than ten thousand people to the Chinese authorities in Beijing and to the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. The petitions were sent by fax and courier service.

Rinopche was first given a death sentence by a Chinese court in December 2002 for his alleged involvement in a series of bombings in Eastern Tibet. Lobsang Dhondup, a relative of Rinpoche, was also charged with the bombings. Lobsang was executed almost immediately. Rinpoche’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in January 2005.

One of the activists, Tenzin Choeying of Students for a Free Tibet, said, “Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was framed by the Chinese government for crimes he did not commit because he was an outspoken advocate for Tibetan culture, religion, and identity.”

Choeying also said that Rinpoche did not receive a fair trial under Chinese law.

In November 2009, Tibetans in Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s home area in Lithang signed a 40,000 petition asking for a re-trial. Members of Tenzin Delek’s family attempted to deliver the petition to the Chinese government in December 2009, but were stopped en route to Beijing.

Rinpoche had reportedly denied any involvement in the bombings. “He has maintained his innocence since the day he was detained, and in 2009 from prison,” Choeying said.

According to the organisers of today’s event, 40,000 signatures from around the world have been sent to the Chinese government to press for the release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche.

The event was organised by the Tibetan Women’s Association, the Gu Chu Sum Movement of Tibet and the Students for a Free Tibet, India.

Copyright © 2010 Tibet Sun

Published in Tibet Sun