Tibetan monk found jailed for splittism after Chinese arrest, disappearance nearly two years ago

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Rinchen Tsultrim. (Photo courtesy: CTA)

(TibetanReview.net, Jun25’21) – A Tibetan monk arrested by Chinese police in Ngawa (or Ngaba, Chinese: Aba) County of Sichuan Province nearly two years ago, to be never heard of again, has just been learnt to be serving a four-and-half year jail sentence, according to the Tibetan Service of rfa.org Jun 24.

Rinchen Tsultrim, 29, native of Kashul Village, was arrested on Jul 27, 2019 on allegation of working to “split the country” after he had expressed his thoughts on a range of Tibetan political, social and culture issues on social media.

It was only on March 23, 2021 that his family was informed that the monk, who belongs to the pre-Buddhist Bon faith, had been jailed for four-and-a-half year.

There was no information on when or where and under what circumstance he was tried. His sister Kunsang Dolma has told RFA that he was now being held in Sichuan’s Mianyang Prison, located in the vicinity of the provincial capital Chengdu.

“He had been warned three times by the Chinese authorities for expressing his thoughts and writings on a range of Tibetan political, social, and cultural issues before he was arrested in 2019,” Dolma was quoted as saying, adding, “At one time he was also compelled to sign some documents.”

The monk also reportedly had ongoing contacts with Tibetans living in exile, which was stated to have been another important factor leading to his arrest.

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