By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Dec. 7: A Tibetan man has been released on Sunday (Dec. 4) after three years in Chinese prison in eastern Tibet.
Kunme, who hails from Meruma Township in the restive Ngaba County, was escorted by Chinese authorities from Mianyang prison in Sichaun Province to his home where he was received by awaiting friends and family, RFA reported.
He, along with other 20 Tibetans, was detained three years ago in 2013 for stopping Chinese authorities from taking away the charred body of a Tibetan self immolator Konchok Tsetan who later died.
His compatriot Dolma Tso who has also been charged with ‘homicide’ was also released on Sunday although the news of her release reached exile sources earlier.
The detainees charged in this particular case were earlier held for 11 months during which they were tortured and subjected to harsh treatment by authorities followed by an inclusive three year sentence. Dolma Tso is said to be released in poor health due to the mal-treatment meted out against her in prison.
Their case can be highlighted for a Chinese policy that criminalized self immolation and levied accusations and harsh punishment for friends and family of self immolators in the last few years to contain the practice among Tibetans in Tibet.
Till date, 145 Tibetans living inside Tibet have resorted to self-immolations as a form of protest against China since the first case of monk named Tapey was reported in 2009. Many of the self immolators called for the return of Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama as well as calls for Tibet’s freedom and even independence were also made.
