Labour MEP Catherine Stihler is set to meet long-time campaigner Palden Gyatso, who was imprisoned for 33 years in Tibet for his peaceful political activism.
A Scots politician is meeting a former Tibetan political prisoner to mark 50 years of the Dalai Lama’s exile.
Labour MEP Catherine Stihler is set to meet long-time campaigner Palden Gyatso, who was imprisoned for 33 years in Tibet for his peaceful political activism.
Speaking ahead of the Edinburgh get-together on Friday, Ms Stihler told stv news: “Palden Gyatso is truly an inspirational figure.
“He spent 33 years in notorious Chinese prisons and labour camps, yet he has never given up the struggle for the Tibetan people.
“Mr Gyatso has spent most of his life championing the cause of freedom and non-violence around the world.
“He speaks for people all over the world who have faced persecution and been silenced.”
The event coincides with the 50th anniversary of the exile of spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. The 73-year-old Tibetan figurehead fled his country in 1959 and established the Government of Tibet in Exile in India to protest against Chinese rule.
Mr Gyatso was released in 1992 after more than three decades in Chinese prisons and labour camps. He has since toured the world highlighting the cause of Tibetan independence.
