China jails a young Tibetan for two years for "leaking state secrets" to world
Nov 27, 2022
Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], November 27 : Chinese authorities sentenced a young Tibetan man in Kardze, eastern Tibet to two years in prison for allegedly sending sensitive information abroad.
28-year-old, Thupsam was arrested on May 3 at a local restaurant. He was detained incommunicado and subsequently put on a trial on charges including "leaking state secrets" and "endangering state security" by the Kardze Intermediate People's Court in November, reported Phayul citing various media reports.
The Chinese court reportedly summoned Thupsam's wife and brother to court on November 21 and informed them that he had been sentenced to two years in prison, without any notice to the family prior to the trial.
"At the time [of his arrest], the authorities accused him of sending information about Tibet to Europe and India via the Chinese social messaging app [WeChat]. He spent five months in detention, during which time he was tortured and beaten," the source told the Tibet Post, citing contacts in the region.
Thupsam hails from Bhamnyi village in the so-called Sershul County in Eastern Tibet. He is a father to a 5-year-old daughter and used to live with his parents, brother and wife in his hometown. He is skilled in handicrafts' and most of his family expenses were borne by him, reported Phayul.
The charge of "leaking" government-sensitive information has been used on numerous occasions. In October, six Tibetan intellectuals and activists were sentenced to prison terms ranging from four years to fourteen years, for charges such as "inciting separatism" and "endangering state security".
A prominent Tibetan writer and teacher Kunchok Tsephel, who was released on March 18 this year, served 13 years in prison for "leaking secrets" in 2009.
In 2020, Tibetan lyricist Khado Tsetan and singer Tsegao were imprisoned for charges related to subversion of state law and state security crimes although their main crime was composing and singing a song praising the exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama.
Over the past 70 decades, there has been ongoing political repression, social discrimination, economic marginalization, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation, particularly due to Chinese migration to Tibet which is fueling intense resentment among the people of occupied Tibet.
Tibet which was illegally occupied by China in 1950 has become a nightmare for its citizens as China continues to oppress and tries to destroy their cultural heritage in an effort to sinicize the Tibetans.
The people of Tibet are facing brutality and witnessing the destruction of their culture and continuous atrocities on their people especially in recent times the conditions there have grown from bad to worse, Voice Against Autocracy reported.
The people of Tibet are being forced to live their life in accordance with the rules of China. Even the innocent monks are not being spared disallowing them to practice their religion and culture of Buddhism. Innocent monks and nuns from around Tibet are monitored and even forced to remove their robes which are a significant part of their culture and religion.
The total count of political prisoners from Tibet has increased significantly and now it even contains monks and nuns from hundreds of monasteries around Tibet based on fabricated charges and tortured beyond imagination. And most of the time it results in trauma, injuries, and even death because of the injuries sustained by these political prisoners from Tibet, reported Voice Against Autocracy.