NEW YORK, January 28 – Approximately forty Tibetans and supporters made an unannounced appearance at the Chinese Consulate today and demonstrated for the release of imprisoned Buddhist leader Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on January 26, 2005.
The action was organized by the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress and Students for a Free Tibet as an immediate response to China’s sentencing of Rinpoche to life in prison. While the crowd loudly chanted slogans condemning the Chinese government’s unjust imprisonment of Rinpoche and illegal occupation of Tibet, some of the Consulate staff became visibly agitated and repeatedly dialed the police. However, the police did not arrive at the site for a full half hour, during which the demonstrators successfully carried out legal disruption of business at the Consulate’s visa office.
Geshe Lobsang Tenpa, a former disciple of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, thanked the assembled crowd, “It is due to your unwavering support and action that the Chinese government has been forced to commute Rinpoche’s death sentence to life imprisonment. If we continue to apply this pressure on Beijing, we can secure the speedy release of Rinpoche.”
“Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is innocent,” said Kunga Thinley, president of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress. “And an innocent man should not spend even one day in prison. We absolutely oppose this unfair sentence, and we will step up our campaign in the coming days until Rinpoche is free again.”
Among the participants in the demonstration were members of the Tibetan Association of New York and New Jersey, Tibetan Women’s Association and the New York University chapter of Students for a Free Tibet.
