By Tenam
Paris Dec. 3: French Foreign Minister Mr. Bernard Kouchner stressed that his office is “closely following the case of Tibetan prisoner Dhondup Wangchen.” Kouchner wrote in a written response to Deputy Christian Kert from South of France. He added that France and her European partners believe that “the conditions of a fair trial are not met.”
“We will not fail to express our concerns to the Chinese authorities during the Europe-China dialogue on Human Rights,” he wrote.
Dhondup Wangchen, a self-taught filmmaker who spent five months interviewing Tibetans about their hopes and frustrations living under Chinese occupation is facing charges of state subversion after his footage was smuggled abroad and distributed on the internet and at film festivals around the world. He was arrested in March 2008.
Lhamo Tso, wife of detained Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen, has recently expressed serious concerns about his health and treatment in prison and called on the international community for help. According to recent information,Wangchen suffers from Hepatitis B and receives no medical treatment in detention. Wangchen’s family appointed lawyer in Beijing under government pressure, has been forced to drop the case.
“Be assured that France and the European Union will continue to remain attentive to the plight of Tibetan prisoners’ of conscience and seek measures to gain their liberty,” the letter concluded.
