A court in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan has convicted of subversion a Tibetan nomad who called for the return of the Dalai Lama at a horseracing festival in August.
Ronggyal Adrak was tried at the Ganzi Autonomous Prefecture People’s Court in Dartsedo (in Chinese, Kangding) on Monday, Oct. 29, on charges of seeking to “split” the country and subvert state power during a public meeting Aug. 1 in Lithang county, sources in Lithang told RFA’s Tibetan service.
Ronggyal Adrak told the judge from the dock: “When I shouted ‘Long live the Dalai Lama’ and called for the release of Tibetan political prisoners, I was detained and then formally arrested.”
“The main reason was that there is nobody in Tibet who does not have faith in, loyalty to, and the desire to see the Dalai Lama,” he told the court. “On the contrary, the Chinese government sends out propaganda saying that the Tibetans inside Tibet have no desire to meet him and have lost faith in him.”
“That is wrong, and we have no freedom to say so.”
The judge told Ronggyal Adrak that his crimes were “very severe.”
Responsible for protest
“You committed the crime of subverting the People’s Republic of China. The Dalai Lama, for whom you called for a long life and his return to Tibet, is the same person who is conniving with different foreign leaders and organizations to split our country through a variety of means and methods,” the judge said.
Ronggyal Adrak, who has met the exiled Tibetan leader twice in northern India where his two daughters are studying, was also held responsible for a mass protest by more than 1,000 Lithang nomads calling for his release, and “economic losses” suffered as a result of his public protest, the judge said.
“You not only met him twice in India but also came back and initiated actions here in Lithang. So these actions prove that you were making plans to split and subvert this country,” the judge said.
“More than 1,000 Tibetan residents of the Lithang area rallied and forced entry into government compounds. That incident was also instigated by you,” the judge said. “You have to bear the complete burden of responsibility for these actions.”
An official who answered the phone at the Ganzi People’s Court told RFA’s Tibetan service that the charges against Ronggyal Adrak were justified. “Ronggyal Adrak is being tried according to Chinese law, and we are not wrongfully accusing him of anything,” the official said. “He is being charged according to the law of the land.”
Ronggyal Adrak was accompanied into the courtroom by Adruk Gyatso and Chaktsa Lobsang.
China’s image ‘damaged’
The judge also slammed Ronggyal’s nephew, Adruk Tseten, for “talking to all kinds of media in the world and responding to their questions,” actions which had damaged China’s international image, he said.
The judge said the final sentence would be announced to officials in the Lithang county government in six to seven days.
Ronggyal Adrak, of the Yonru nomadic group, was detained by police at a festival in Lithang on Aug. 1 after he called on Beijing to allow the Dalai Lama back into Tibetan territory under Chinese control.
Nomads and local residents besieged Lithang town calling for his release, and a 200-strong delegation was sent to talk to Chinese officials after police threatened to shoot some of the protesters.
Thousands of troops descended on the region in the aftermath of the protest, and the nomads agreed to withdraw on the condition that Ronggyal Adrak be freed.
China has ruled the Dalai Lama, who has called for real autonomy for Tibetans within the People’s Republic of China, out of Tibet’s future, and has recently launched major political campaigns in Tibetan areas of Sichuan and among Tibetan cadres in Tibet to get people to renounce him.
Original reporting in Kham dialect by Dawa Dolma and Lobsang Choephel of RFA’s Tibetan service. Service director: Jigme Ngapo. Translated and edited by Karma Dorjee. Written and produced in English by Luisetta Mudie and Sarah Jackson-Han.
Following is press release from TCHRD on Rongye A’drak’s case
Ronggye A’drak indicted by the Chinese court
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, (TCHRD) today received reliable information that Kardze People’s Intermediate Court indicted Ronggye A’drak with four accounts of “crimes” ranging from disruption of law and order to state subversion.
According to the source, on 29 October 2007, a handcuffed Ronggye A’drak was brought to Kardze People’s Intermediate Court, for a trial. During the trial, the court indicted Ronggye A’drak with four accounts of “crimes”:
(1) Indicted of seeking to “split” the country and subvert state power on 1 August 2007 during the horse racing festival by shouting “Long Live the Dalai Lama” and asking for the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet.
(2)Indicted of instigating a large crowd of agitating Tibetans rallied and forced entry into the government compounds after his arrest. Since he caused the incident and therefore he must bear the complete responsibility for these actions.
(3) Indicting of disrupting the law and order in Lithang region and of economic losses resulting from his protest and subsequent arrest in deploying Public Security Bureau (PSB) and People’s Armed Police (PAP) personnels.
(4) Indicted of colluding with the splittist Dalai Clique based outside Tibet and moreover his daughters were honoured by the “Dalai Clique” at a public event.
According to the source, it is reported that Ronggye A’drak was taken to Dartsedo detention centre after his trial at Kardze People’s Intermediate Court, Sichuan Province. It is widely understood from the insider source that Ronggye A’drak will be formally charged the aforementioned “crimes” and the court will pronounce the verdict in the coming few days.
The TCHRD strongly condemns the indictment of Ronggye A’drak as his freedom to expression and opinion does not violate any of the constitutional components of Chinese law. TCHRD also expresses its doubts concerning the transparency of the legal proceedings-whether or not Ronggye A’drak was entitled to a fair trial. TCHRD calls upon the People’s Republic of China to implement and follow all the required domestic and international legal norms and practices in the case of Ronggye A’drak’s trial, to ensure that he receives fair hearings in the court, further in no case should his legal counsel be subjected to any forms of intimidation or pressure. The Centre is highly concerned at the blatant violation of international legal norms in courts in China where in summary and arbitrary judicial process is highly prevalent.
