Gonpo Kyi, Choekyong Sues Lhasa Police for Mistreatment
By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA 28 March: Gonpo Kyi and Choekyong have filed a lawsuit against the Lhasa police for the mistreatment they suffered when the couple was detained and beaten in December 2023, as reported yesterday by the London-based advocacy group Free Tibet, citing its research partner Tibet Watch.
Gonpo Kyi has been carrying out multiple protests for over a year now, sometimes alone and other times joined by her husband Choekyong, against the arrest and life sentencing of her brother Dorjee Tashi by the Chinese authorities.
In the lawsuit against the police authority, the couple charged the police with arbitrary detention and beatings, as well as the denial of the right to medical treatment for injuries Gonpo Kyi sustained from the mistreatment, the report added.
The lawsuit was filed in Chengguan District People’s Court of Lhasa City. The pair’s efforts to file the case were obstructed “due to the repressive censorship and vigilant supervision of the Chinese government,” says a source close to Tibet Watch.
“The Lhasa city police, in collusion with the court, refused the couple’s requests and did not allow them to meet Dorjee Tashi in prison. The couple also continues to plead for a fair trial for Dorjee’s case.”
Most recently, Gonpo Kyi staged a protest on 20 February in front of the Tibet Higher People’s Court in Lhasa. It occurred just two months after she and her husband were released from arbitrary detention and beatings, for which the couple has sued the police.
Gonpo Kyi, along with her husband, has made multiple attempts to initiate the appeal process for a retrial with the concerned Chinese authorities, but their efforts have yielded no results. Despite the arrests, beatings, and threats she has received from Chinese authorities, she continues to steadfastly seek justice for her brother.
Her brother, Dorjee Tashi, was once a successful hotelier and businessman involved in numerous philanthropic endeavours. Following the 2008 pan-Tibetan uprising in Lhasa, he was arrested and sentenced to life in prison on trumped-up charges without proper trials.
