Chinese prison authorities have admitted Jigme Gyatso, a high-profile Tibetan political prisoner, into a prison hospital in Lanzhou city, capital of Gansu Province, as he becomes eligible for release in six months. Jigme Gyatso, was a monk at Labrang Monastery in Sangchu (Ch: Xiahe) County, Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. In September 2014, after years of speculation…
Writer, essayist, blogger, chronicler, environmentalist and amateur photographer Kunga Tsayang has been released after serving almost five years’ of imprisonment for allegedly writing political essays criticizing Chinese policies in Tibet.
According to reliable information received by TCHRD, Kunga Tsayang, who is also a monk from Labrang Tashikyil Monastery and wrote under a pen name “Sun of Snowland” (Tibetan: Gang Nyi) was released at around 8.30 am on 12 January 2014 from a prison in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province.
A source with contacts in Tibet told TCHRD that after release, Kunga Tsayang went to Labrang Monastery and from there on 14 January 2014, he returned to his hometown in Chikdril County in Golok (Ch: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, where a grand ceremony was held to celebrate his release. Local Tibetans, both young and old, came in droves bearing ceremonial scarves, as they burned juniper leaves and scattered ‘windhorse prayer flags’ (Tib: lungta) in the air to celebrate his release.