According to the information recently received, eight Tibetan political prisoners escaped from Gyantse District Prison (Chok-Treh Prison) in mid-January 1997.
On 26 December 1996 the eight Tibetans had led a peaceful demonstration at a fair in Sarlha village in Khardoe Sub-District. The demonstration, which lasted half an hour, took place in front of the Gyantse District Headquarters. The protest was joined by some 40 people from the 3000 who had come to attend the fair.
The demonstration was interrupted by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and the People’s Armed Police (PAP) who immediately arrested the eight initial “rebels” and charged them with “counter-revolutionary” activities. They were then taken to Gyantse District prison.
After spending 23 days in prison, one of the prison attendants (name withheld) warned the prisoners that they may be sentenced to at least seven years imprisonment. Fearing that they would have to undergo torture and extended imprisonment, they immediately made plans for escape and succeeded by fleeing through prison drainage.