By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, JAN 19: Five Tibetans have been arrested as a precautionary measure by Swiss Police ahead of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s address at the UN office in Geneva.
Four members of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe held banners ‘Arrest Xitler’ and ‘Free Tibet’ while shouting slogans ‘Stop the killing in Tibet’, ‘Free Tibet’ and ‘No human rights in Tibet’. The police intervened the ‘unauthorized protest’ and detained them.
The police also detained the fifth protestor, a Tibetan carrying a Tibetan national flag and protesting separately from the group.
Dismayed with authorities for not allowing any activities during the actual visit of Xi on Wednesday, hundreds of Tibetans gathered in front of the UN building on Tuesday to protest the visit and urged the UN to speak up on Tibetan issue.
“We are of course disappointed with this decision,” Dawa Tsultrim, secretary of the Tibet Office in Geneva told Le Temps, a Swiss daily in French.
The Tibetan official also stated that the authorities have ‘yielded to pressure from China’ after disallowing permits to hold a protest on Wednesday afternoon to have greater impact.
Reportedly, around 15 Tibetans were arrested on Tuesday at about 5.30 p.m. (local time) at the Lausanne station where Xi was scheduled to arrive in the evening.
“The police have humiliated us. We have always been peaceful in Switzerland. They say that we have human rights but today I have seen that they are submitting to the Chinese. I was treated like a criminal, a terrorist. It’s the first time,” Dorjee Dhakyel, a Tibetan living in Zurich told the daily.
