DHARAMSHALA, MAY 16: A Tibetan sentenced to twelve years’ imprisonment for anti China protests in 2008 has been released on May 7 this year, six year’s before completion of his term.
Sonam Yarphel, 34, returned to his native town of Tehor Chokri Dhilyue village in Drango County to a rousing welcome by over a hundred fellow villagers.
He was arrested on April 2, 2008 for taking part in anti China protests in Drango County on March 25, 2008, a day after a Tibetan monk named Kunga was killed and another seriously injured after Chinese People’s Armed Police fired indiscriminately into a crowd of Tibetan protesters on March 24, 2008.
The dead body was brought to Drango Gaden Rabten Nampargyalpeling Monastery where local Tibetans and monks performed prayers on the morning of March 25, 2008.
Following the prayer, around 400 monks of the monastery, joined by laypeople, marched towards the county headquarters but were stopped on the way by People’s Armed Police and Public Security Bureau.
The protesters managed to continue their march despite the blockade by PAP and PSB. The protesters shouted slogans, “Dalai Lama should be allowed to return to his rightful throne in the Potala Palace”, “Release Panchen Lama”, “Stop current repression in Tibet” and “Independence and Democracy for Tibet.”
The Kardze Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Sonam to twelve years in prison for activities to ‘harm the national stability’ and sending out information to “splittists” in exile. The exact date of his sentencing is not known.
