China jails disappeared Tibetan monk-writer for 7.5 years

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Monk and writer Jo Lobsang Jamyang,known by his pen name Lomig,shown in an undated file photo was sentenced to prison on unspecified charges. (Photo courtesy: RFA)
Monk and writer Jo Lobsang Jamyang,known by his pen name Lomig,shown in an undated file photo was sentenced to prison on unspecified charges. (Photo courtesy: RFA)

(TibetanReview.net, May11, 2016) – A county court in China’s Sichuan Province has on May 9 jailed a young Tibetan monk-writer to a jail term of seven and half years for having allegedly leaked state secrets and engaged in separatist activities, according to several online reports May 9. The monk, Lobsang Jamyang (known by his penname of Lomig), belongs to the Kirti Monastery in the province’s Tibetan county of Ngaba Prefecture and was arrested on Apr 17 last year. He remained disappeared thereafter until his family was allowed a brief meeting just after he was sentenced.

The trial was held behind closed doors with neither his family nor his lawyer being allowed to attend the hearing. The monk has told his family that he was charged with the above alleged crimes without any evidence and that he had denied them all.

The trail was held in neighbouring Lunggu (Chinese: Wenchuan) County and the 28-year-old monk was accused of having committed the alleged crimes over the period of 2009-2015. He was said to have been severely tortured during his long incommunicado detention in attempts to make him confess to his alleged crimes.

The monk’s friends and supporters suspect that he was criminalised for his numerous writings, both online and in books, as well as for talks during public discussion during the period. These included a book titled “The Yellow Fog” published from Xining in 2010. He had also contributed articles to popular Tibetan language websites such as Choeme, Sangdhor, and Tso Ngon. His more recent articles are titled “Story Shackled by Iron Chains”, “Weapons Target Writers of Ngaba”, and “Until I Die, I Will Express My Views,” said Dharamshala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy May 9.

The centre said that along with other popular Tibetan writers such as Shokjang, Lomig had taken part in a number of panel discussions such as Siling Zsa Nyimei Khadha (‘Xining Sunday Debate’) at the Qinghai Nationalities University, Xining.

In his home county of In Ngaba, Lomig was said to have organized public discussions on topics such as “Revisiting Dondrup Gyal,” and “Sunday Discussions”. And in his hometown of Meuruma, he was said to have organized a public debate on the subject “Denial of Free Expression.”

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