Sister of imprisoned Tibetan businessman dragged away by Chinese police as she continues campaign against unfair trial

By Tsering Choephel

DHARAMSALA, 12 May: Defying the threat of arrest by the Chinese police, Gonpo Kyi, has yet again staged a protest appealing for the retrial of her brother Dorjee Tashi.  

Gonpo Kyi was dragged and quickly whisked away by the Chinese authorities as she appealed to relook into the verdict of her brother’s case in front of the Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court on Wednesday, reports Radio Free Asia (RFA). 

Kyi has previously protested multiple times calling for her brother’s immediate release. According to Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), since 2016 Dorje Tashi’s family members began working on his appeal process including engaging with his lawyers Wang Fei and Hao Chen in Beijing while he was subjected to “enhanced monitoring and surveillance from prison authorities.”

Dorje Tashi was detained on 10 July 2008 in Lhasa by Chinese security officers for allegedly funding the protests of 14 March 2008, the uprising that spread across many parts of Tibet. 

Subsequently, he was convicted for a false loan fraud case in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet.

While it’s been 15 years since the imprisonment of the Tibetan businessman, TCHRD maintains that “Dorje Tashi has been unjustly imprisoned for life for false loan fraud charges.” 

Similarly, a Chinese law firm also concluded in October 2018 that Dorje Tashi’s life imprisonment verdict was “unfair” and “fabricated” before calling for a thorough review of the case.

Despite multiple appeals and protests by his family members, Tashi still remains imprisoned.