Chinese court convicts nine Tibetans of ‘Inciting Splittism’ in Kardze
DHARAMSALA, 16 Sept: A Chinese court has convicted nine Tibetans from eastern Tibet with ‘inciting splittism’ from June till August.
Choedhen, Dolma Tsering, Drakpa, Tsering Yeshi, Bhutruk, Bhudhar, Penpa, Namkha Gyaltsen and Pema Tsethar from Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) in the traditional Tibetan province of Kham were all convicted with “inciting splittism” by the Kardze Prefecture Intermediate People’s Court, Humanitarian and prisoner advocacy group Dui Hua reported citing a source within the Chinese government.
Of the lot, Penpa, Namkha Gyaltsen and Pema Tsethar were also “convicted of arson in a case first heard by the court in 2019,” the report added.
Apart from the name of the Tibetans convicted by the Chinese court, their crime and the dates of their judgement, little else is known about the nine Tibetans.
“Their ages, genders, the time and reasons for their arrest and trial, and the length of their sentences remain unknown at this time. It is not known if the cases are related to each other,” the San Francisco-based rights monitoring group said in the report.
The Dui Hua Foundation has further said that unless the Tibetans
“who have been convicted appeal their endangering state security convictions – which is rare in minority areas – all nine will be sent to serve their sentences in Sichuan prisons in the coming months.”
China often arrests Tibetans activists and government critics on trumped-up charges of “endangering state security”, a charge that could result in a 15-year sentence.
