Sep 10, 2012

Tibet: Teenage Girl Sentenced To Jail For Protesting


A 17-year-old Tibetan girl was sentenced to three years in prison following a protest in which she asked for the return of the Dalai-Lama and freedom for Tibet.

Below is an article published by the Phayul:

A Chinese court in eastern Tibet has sentenced a teenaged-Tibetan girl to three years in prison for carrying out a protest demanding the return of the Dalai Lama and Tibet’s freedom.

Jigme Dolma, 17, was sentenced on August 25 for committing actions aimed at ‘splitting China,’ exile media outlets have reported.

It is not currently known where she will serve her sentence, even as her relatives have not been informed of her present whereabouts.

Jigme Dolma, took out a lone protest in Kardze region of eastern Tibet on June 24. She raised pro-Tibet slogans calling for Tibet’s freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama, demands which have been raised by more than 51 Tibetans who have set themselves on fire since 2009 in Tibet.

Eyewitnesses said Dolma was severely beaten by Chinese security personnel and is believed to have sustained major damages to her arms and legs.

She was later traced to a local government hospital in a “critical” condition as described by her relatives.

Last month, Shedup Lhamo, 39, a nun at the Kardze Gaden Choeling Nunnery was severely beaten and arrested for carrying out a peaceful protest and distributing pamphlets in the same region.

Kardze has witnessed repeated protests since the mass uprisings of 2008. Last October, Dawa Tsering a 38 year-old monk from Kardze Monastery set himself ablaze shouting slogans for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile and the re-unification of the Tibetan people.

Earlier this year, Khedup Dorjee, 38, a monk at Za-Samdrup Monastery in Kardze, was severely beaten and arrested for carrying out a peaceful protest in the crowded market of Kardze on March 7.

In another incident, a Tibetan man, Tashi Palden, was beaten with batons and rifle butts by Chinese security personnel for carrying out a peaceful protest at the market place in Kardze on February 11.

In April this year, more than 2000 Tibetans carried out a mass protest in Kardze, demanding the release of around 250 Tibetans who were arrested after Chinese authorities ordered the closure of a locally founded Tibetan organisation called the ‘Dayul Unity Association.