(TibetanReview.net, Feb08, 2018) – A Tibetan man who disappeared after he staged a rare, lone protest against Chinese rule in Tibet’s capital Lhasa on Jan 28 has been found out to be detained by police in Sog (Chinese: Suo) County of Nagchu (Naqu) Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, according to several online exile Tibetan media and other reports Feb 6 and 7.
Lodroe Gyatso, also known as Sogkar Lodroe, was said to have been taken into custody by Chinese police minutes after he protested in front of the iconic Potala Palace. He was apparently straightaway taken to his home county of Sog. His protest was started to have lasted only four-five minutes.
In a video message said to have been recorded just before his protest, the 56-year-old man speaks of his plan to stage a protest calling for world peace on Jan 28. He has described his action as part of a long campaign of nonviolent Tibetan protests inspired by the teachings of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
The man was initially convicted and sentenced to jail for 15 years in 1991 after a brawl with another man who was said to have stabbed a sister of his to death. The sentence was increased to 21 years after he engaged in protest and other political actions while in jail.
Released but placed under police supervision in May 2013, Gyatso continued to openly criticized China’s “oppressive policies” and unequal treatment of Tibetans in some of the eastern counties of his home prefecture of Nagchu. This earned him another spell in jail, from which he was released in Jul 2016.
