Samphel of Kardze sentenced to three years in jail

Tuesday, September 07, 2011

Tibet Sun
by Lobsang Wangyal

Samphel Dhondup in an undated file photo.(TCHRD Handout)

MCLEOD GANJ, India-- A Chinese court in Kardze in eastern Tibet has sentenced an anti-government protester to three years in prison, according to Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

Samphel Dhondup, 23, was given the sentence on 20 August for taking part in a protest on 10 July denouncing the Chinese rule in Tibet. He has been taken to a prison in a place called Loyen in Sichuan Province.

Samphel was with two other protesters, Lobsang Phuntsok and Lobsang Lhundup, who shouted for a free Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama. The three were arrested and then beaten severely by the officials of Public Security Bureau on the spot.

Lobsang Phuntsok, 17, and Lobsang Lhundup, also in his teens, were released on the same day the court sentenced Samphel.

Resistance against the Chinese rule in Tibet has been intense in Kardze in recent times. A monk named Tsewang Norbu set himself on fire and died of his injuries on 15 August.

Three other Tibetans — Norbu, Gyaltsen, and an unidentified person — all from Tawu, were arrested in August. The charges against them remain unknown.

Chinese authorities have tightened security in Kardze and the areas around Kirti Monastery, where similar resistance has been taking place, with severe restrictions on the movement of the people. Schools have been turned into temporary shelter for armed police, according to TCHRD.