By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, December 9: A Tibetan monk of Kirti Monastery in Ngaba County has been sentenced to six-years’ imprisonment for distributing ‘state secret’ or sharing information with the outside world.
The Chinese court in Trochu County in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture sentenced Lobsang Sonam, 23, on November 9 and he is currently detained at Mianyang Prison near Chengdu.
“He was arrested and convicted for sending and distributing information and pictures related to Tibet issue online,” said Kanyag Tsering, a monk of Kirti Monastery here in exile, citing a source from the region.
Lobsang was arbitrarily detained in September last year by the County security officials in Ngaba and was detained incommunicado for over a year.
According to Kanyak Tsering, the family members of the monk were not informed about his whereabouts.
“It appears that the monk was convicted for ‘leaking state secrets’, a common charge used to detain human rights activists and critics of government policies. This charge is commonly used to violate the right to privacy, freedom of expression and information,” TCHRD said in a report.
He is a native of nomadic camp no. 2 of Rongkharsar Township in Ngaba County. Of four siblings, the 23-year old is the oldest child of Kalsang and Tsering Dolma. He enrolled as a monk at Kirti Monastery at a young age.
