By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, March 24: A Tibetan monk who was among the accused in bringing down the Chinese flag and replacing it with the Tibetan national flag on a school building in Wonpo region of Dzachukha in 2012 has been released, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said on its website.
According to Jampa Yonten, a monk of Sera Monastery in South India, Sonam Gonpo returned home on the night March 12 and his current health condition is not known. He added that Sonam Choedar, another monk who was arrested along with him, has not been released yet. Both the monks were detained for nine months without the knowledge of their family members who knew about their detention only on the day of sentencing.
A Chinese court sentenced Sonam Gonpo, then 22 years of age, to four years of imprisonment on September 9, 2013. Sonam Gonpo spent the four years of his prison sentence at Ra-nga Prison in Minyak region in Kham. He is currently 26.
Sonam Gonpo, a monk of Wonpo Monastery, was arrested by the Chinese police officials on December 12, 2012, for his involvement in hoisting the Tibetan national flag on a school building and distributing pamphlets and posters containing politically banned content in the local government school.
On Feb. 4 , 2012, local Tibetans had pulled down a Chinese national flag from a government school building, a day after three self-immolations took place in the region. The local Chinese authorities deployed a large number of officials to keep watch over the monastery for over a month. However, no arrests were made.
On Sept.7 2012, there was another incident of the Chinese flag being pull down from the school building and replacing it with a Tibetan flag. Pamphlets and posters calling for ‘Freedom for Tibet,’ written in red ink were also reportedly found in the school premises, leading to the detention of around 27 Tibetans between October 15 and 24, 2012.
Along with Sonam Gonpo and Sonam Choedar, four other monks of Wonpo Monastery were also arrested on Dec 12, 2012. However, there is no information on the whereabouts of Lobsang Khedup, Lobsang Norbu, Lobsang Yignyen and Tenzin Gendun.
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