Environmental Defender A-Nya Sengdra Freed After Seven Years, Five Months of Arbitrary Detention
By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARAMSALA, 10 Feb: Tibetan environmental rights defender and anti-corruption whistleblower A-Nya Sengdra has been released from a Chinese prison after serving seven years and five months of unjust imprisonment on Saturday. Exiled Tibetans caution that his freedom remains fragile, given the Chinese government’s well-documented record of surveillance, intimidation, and re-imprisonment of human rights defenders even after their release.
A source familiar with the development told Tibet Express that A-Nya Sengdra was released on 7 February and has since returned to his family home in Rakyang Village, Gade County, Golog, in eastern Tibet.
Beyond confirmation of his release, no information has been able to come out regarding his health condition or freedom of movement.
His release comes after an arbitrary extension of his imprisonment, which prolonged his sentence until February 2026, despite it originally being due to end in September 2025.
In a video statement following his release, Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) said that his freedom should not be news, as A-Nya should never have been imprisoned in the first place.
“A Tibetan nomad, he questioned illegal mining, wildlife poaching, and the corruption of funds meant for nomadic resettlement. That was enough to mark him as a threat to the Chinese government,” stated SFT.
Sengdra, now 55, was first detained in 2014 and sentenced to one year and three months in prison, from which he was released in October 2016. In 2018, Chinese authorities again detained him on charges related to “disrupting social stability.” In December 2019, he was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges including inciting disturbances and organising gatherings that disrupted social order.
A-Nya has steadfastly refused to accept the verdict, standing firm in his opposition even while being forced to serve his sentence. According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), his lawyer Lin Qilei has made brave and persistent efforts over the years to challenge the decision by appealing through all available levels of the court system. However, Lin encountered repeated dismissals, including at the Supreme People’s Court, where staff initially denied the existence of the case and later refused to provide any contact details for further inquiries.
SFT stated that the continued criminalization of Tibetan resistance by the Chinese government points to its failure to suppress it, noting the importance of exile voices in amplifying and sustaining that resistance.
“Frontline defenders like A-Nya assume the greatest risks while receiving the least protection. Even now, A-Nya’s freedom remains fragile and at serious risk. The Chinese government has a track record of continuing to surveille, intimidate, and imprison human rights defenders even after their release.”
His release is also reported to have followed relentless and risky efforts by Tibetans from three different townships in occupied Tibet, who petitioned for his freedom, alongside sustained advocacy by Tibetans in exile to international bodies, including the United Nations, as well as various governmental and non-governmental organizations.
