DHARAMSHALA, October 22 – Chinese authorities in Gansu has yesterday released a Tibetan monk arrested in 2008 for participating in the widespread protests that gripped the Tibetan plateau before the Beijing Olympics.
Chodak Gyatso was locked up in a prison in Lanzhou, Gansu province. He was a native of Gyagur village in Luchu County. He was sentenced to eight years in jail for taking part in a peaceful protests in his county in 2008.
Chodak was arrested along with 23 other monks of Shitsang monastery on April 15, 2008. Chodak and his fellow monk Jamyang Tenpa accepted the charges following which the authorities released the monks and laypeople arrested earlier. Jamyang Tenpa was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. However, Jamyang has not been released yet, and his conditions remain unknown.
Tibetan protesters in Luchu county pulled down the Chinese national flag and hoisted the banned Tibetan national flag on March 19, 2008. The protesters continued with their demonstration until the Chinese security forces arrived and demanded the removal of the banned Tibetan national flag. The Tibetan protesters defied the order to remove the flag but eventually the Chinese security forces overpowered the protestors. More than five truckloads of Chinese security forces were brought into the scene to quell the demonstrators.
