(TibetanReview.net, Sep19, 2014) – China has jailed a young Tibetan Buddhist monk for 10 years after detaining and torturing him for more than a year for raising slogans calling for Tibet’s independence during an official event in Chamdo (Chinese: Changdu) Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region, reported Radio Free Asia (Washington) Sep 17. Lobsang Gendun, about 21, called up his relatives on Sep 12 to inform them that the prefectural court of Chamdo had given him the sentence.
The monk, who belongs to the local Drongsar Monastery, was held on Jul 1, 2013 after he shouted the slogans during official celebrations of Chinese Communist Party rule in the prefecture’s Pashoe (Basu) County. He was reported to have shouted prayers of long life for Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and slogans demanding Tibet’s complete independence from Chinese rule.
His shouts were not even clearly audible due to the noise of the ongoing military band’s singing and the general noise of the crowd, the report cited a local source as saying. He was reported to have continued his protest for about five minutes, after which he was seized and removed from the scene by Chinese police.
The report said that on Jan 28 this year, the prefectural court summoned the monk’s parents and instructed them to tell their son to confess to his alleged crime, although it was not clear for what crime or under what judicial process.
Anyhow, the monk not only professed innocence but also demanded that the authorities confess for their wrong policies. He also accused the Pashoe County policed of having tortured him. The parents were not allowed to see him again.
It was not clear where the monk has been taken to serve his unconscionably long jail sentence although his brother was reported to have set off for the prefecture to try to find out.