(TibetanReview.net, Sep14’24) – China has jailed a Tibetan Buddhist monk, arrested in Jun 2023 in Ngaba county and prefecture of Sichuan province, to a three-year jail term, reported the Tibetan service of rfa.org Sep 13, citing local Tibetan sources who could not be named for safety reasons.
The report said the monk, Lobsang Thabkhey, 55, was sentenced in a secret trial, with no information on when it took place and on what charges.
The monk, arrested for allegedly engaging in “separatist activities.” Was a librarian at the Kirti Monastery in Ngaba county. He was alleged to have possessed and republished books from the exile Tibetan community and for having contact with “external forces.”
Thabkhey’s family was stated to have learnt about his fate recently, with the authorities not providing any information about the date of his trial or the ground for his sentencing.
Before his arrest, the monk was stated to have been repeatedly summoned and interrogated by police to question him about his alleged “separatist activities”.
Thabkhey originally belongs to the county’s Meruma township, which has been the scene of many protests and pro-Tibet political activities since 2008, the report noted.