(TibetanReview.net, Nov29’24) –For protesting online over an environmentally devastating, illegal sand-mining being carried out by a Chinese building giant from the bed of his Khyungchu (or Kakhog, Chinese: Hongyuan) County village river in Sichuan province, China has jailed Tsongon Tsering, 29, for eight months.
Tsongon Tsering, a resident of Tsaruma Town in Ngaba (Aba) prefecture, has been sentenced to eight months in prison on Oct 27 by the Khyungchu (Qiongxi) County People’s Court, said Dharamshala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy Nov 28.
He was convicted for allegedly “inciting public unrest out of personal hatred”, according to the Tibetan-language tibettimes.net Nov 29.
This report said that Tsongon Tsering was initially threatened with at least one and half years of imprisonment. However, he was given the lesser jail sentence due to lack of any past criminal record.
However, the eight-year sentence was stated to be not final as this would depend on his as well as his family’s future behaviour, he was stated to have been told.
Earlier, aware that local Tibetans were united in their support for Tsongon Tsering, whom they saw as being victimised for raising a serious environmental issue with the higher authorities, the court was reported to sought to intimidate the public. It reportedly told those desiring to attend the court hearing on Oct 27 to submit their ID’s two or three days beforehand. As a result, only a dozen people dared to attend it, the report said.
Chinese authorities admitted last month that Anhui Xianhe Construction Engineering Company had carried out environmentally devastating, illegal sand mining as alleged, but let it off with a light fine.
Following his Oct 15 Kuaishou short video social media platform exposé of it in a five-minute message, the local police summoned several Tibetans for questioning on Oct 22. All but Tsongon Tsering returned home afterwards.
The Tsaruma township river, stated to be known locally as Dangchu, is a tributary that feeds into major Asian river systems, including two of China’s most important waterways – the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.