Dharamshala — The Chinese authorities in Sangchu County, north-eastern Tibet have sentenced two Tibetan monks to one year and a half each for allegedly sharing online information about events in Tibet abroad.
Jinpa was arrested, along with two other Labrang monks Kalsang and Jamyang about 7 pm, June 5, 2015, while walking in the area of market street in Labrang Township, Sangchu County, and another monk Kalsang Monlam, was also detained by Chinese police separately on the same day for unknown charges.
'The two, who are are both aged in their late 30s, were taken by Chinese authorities last year without any reason or accusation. Both Jinpa and Monlam were sentenced to serve one year and a half prison term by People's Intermediate Court Sangchu county on September 12, for their alleged involvement in the self-immolation protest of Sangye Tso on May 27, 2015,' a source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to the source, 'with plainclothes security personnel came to the Labrang monastery for Monlam and took him away in handcuffs and the authorities also forced him to unlock his mobile phone and then searched his room.'
All four were residents of Labrang Tashikyil monastery in Sangchu County, north-eastern Tibet (Ch: Xiahe county, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, TPI source said, added that the two others, [Kalsang and Jamyang] were reportedly released after being interrogated for several days.
TPI had previously reported that there was heavy security presence at Labrang and Bora areas; in particular, Labrang Monastery and Bora Monastery, teeming with armed forces and police who closely monitor and carry out surveillance on the activities of the local Tibetans and monks in the county, a site of frequent protests against China's rule in Tibet.
Since 2009, a total of 144 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against the Chinese government's repressive policies in Tibet and of them 122 were reportedly passed-away while the status of the rest remains unknown or critically injured. Many such protests have taken place in Ngaba region, especially by the monks of Kirti monastery.
Chinese authorities in Beijing have labeled the Tibetan self-immolators as "terrorists, outcasts, criminals, and mentally ill people" and have blamed His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration for "encouraging" the self-immolations in Tibet.
It is a fact that the regime has also imposed severe restrictions on internet and phone connections by increasing a wider crackdown on communications across Tibet in an attempt to prevent any news reaching the outside world.
In Tibet today, Tibetans are being arbitrarily arrested, imprisoned and tortured for merely expressing their suffering under Chinese rule. However, authorities in Beijing still claim that "China 'peacefully liberated' Tibet, and that the Tibetans are living in a "Maoist socialist paradise."
Tibet was invaded by Communist China, starting in 1949, Beijing calls a "peaceful liberation". Since that time, over 1.2 million out of 6 Tibetans have been killed, over 6000 monasteries have been destroyed— the acts of murder, rape and arbitrary imprisonment, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment were inflicted on the Tibetans inside Tibet.
