(TibetanReview.net, Apr10’26) – A Tibetan man, now in his late 50s, imprisoned for 18 years after leading a language rights protest in a historically Tibetan area of Sichuan province, China, in 2007 has emerged from jail last month in fragile health, reported the Tibetan language tibettimes.net Apr 9.
Yeshe Sangpo and his brother Lobsang, residents of Bumnying Village in Sershul (Chinese: Shiqu) County, Kardze (Ganzi) Prefecture, led a group of local Tibetans in a protest in the county seat to demand respect for Tibetan people’s right to preserve, study, use, and promote their own language in the face of tightening government restrictions.
The Chinese police assaulted the protesters with severe blows, resulting in angered victims responding in kind. In the ensuing melee, a Chinese policeman reportedly died. Yeshe Sangpo, being a main organiser of the protest, was blamed for it and later tried and sentenced in Mar 2008 to serve an 18-year jail term.
Trials in such cases typically take place without the trappings of a fair judicial process, with the accused invariably held guilty and given lengthy jail sentences.
Yeshe Sangpo was released on Mar 25 after completing his jail sentence, aged 57. The report did not mention the nature of his poor health condition.