According to Radio Free Asia, a Chinese court in Tibet has sentenced Tibetan writer and educator Go Sherab Gyatso to ten years in prison for expressing loyalty to exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. The verdict was handed down in a secret trial (RFA).
Go Sherab Gyatso had previously authored books and essays about the difficulties faced by Tibetans living under Chinese rule.
Furthermore, Go Sherab Gyatso, a 46-year-old monk from Kirti monastery in Sichuan’s Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was apprehended by State Security agents on unknown charges on Oct. 26, 2020 in Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital.
Gyatso, meanwhile, is expected to be sent to a prison in Tibet’s regional capital, Lhasa, according to those close to him. According to RFA, no information about the charges on which he was convicted is available.
Gyatso was described as a “open-minded individual who favours the preservation of Tibetan language, religion, and culture” by a Tibetan professor living in exile who spoke to RFA. Gyatso had produced books and articles exposing limits on freedom of expression under Chinese authority.
“It’s heartbreaking to learn of his ten-year sentence on Human Rights Day, and I urge the United Nations, countries throughout the world, and the international community to look into this problem promptly,” he added.
Gyatso had been placed in criminal prison “in accordance with the law on suspicion of encouraging secession,” according to a Chinese government response to a July 16 letter from UN human rights experts inquiring about his situation.
