Tibetan writer and teacher Gangkye Drupa Kyab was detained again on 17 September, a day after his release from prison. He had served more than four years and a half for merely exercising his right to freedom of expression and thought. His friend, Samdup, who had been released on 19 August after serving more than four years, was also detained on 18 September.
In a moving letter addressed to Tibetan writer Gangkye Drupa Kyab, Sylvain Meunier, a Montreal-based Quebecois writer expressed her indignation at Kyab’s unjust imprisonment.
As a gesture of solidarity, Meunier also dedicated one of her books, ‘The Night of the Psychedelic Nurses’ to Gangkye Drupa Kyab, who was released earlier this month after serving more than four years and a half in prison.
Gangkye Drupa Kyab, a Tibetan writer and teacher, was released after four years and seven months from Minyak Rangakha Prison located in the southwestern part of Tibet’s Kham province in present-day Sichuan Province.
Gangkye Drupa Kyab was released at around 5 pm local time on 16 September 2016 before the completion of his sentence. He had been sentenced to five and a half years on 1 August 2013 for allegedly being a member of an underground group called “Marshog Ngogol Tsogpa” (Anti-Communist Party Association). On 15 February 2012, he was arbitrarily detained by a group of prefecture and county level security officers and taken to a detention center in Dartsedo (Ch: Kangding), capital of Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), Sichuan Province.
A popular Tibetan writer and four others have been sentenced to prison early this month by Chinese authorities in Nyagchu (Ch: Yajiang) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
On 1 August 2013, the County People’s Court in Nyagchu County sentenced the writer, Gangkye Drupa Kyab, to five years and six months in prison for alleged political activities. Four other Tibetan men were also sentenced. Samdup received five years’ prison term while Sheygyal and Yudrang each were sentenced to two years. Drensel received three years prison sentence, according to information obtained by Tibet Express, an exile Tibetan newspaper.
All of them were sentenced for allegedly being members of a secret political group called “Marshog Ngogol Tsogpa” (Anti-Communist Party Association). Both Samdup, 32, and Yudrang were detained on 13 June 2012.