06 March 2006
School founder's sentence reduced
(ICT) Bangri Chogtrul Rinpoche (also known as Jigme Tenzin Nyima), the founder and head-teacher of a school and orphanage in Lhasa that was closed down by the authorities in 1999, has had his life sentence commuted to a fixed term and reduced by one year, according to new information obtained by John Kamm's Dui Hua Foundation. Bangri Chogtrul Rinpoche, who was sentenced on charges of "attempting to split the country"in 2000, has been transferred from Drapchi prison to the new prison of Chushur (Chin: Qushui) county near Nyethang (Chin: Nidang), Lhasa, where the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, met him during his visit to the PRC from 20 November to 02 December 2006. Mr Nowak also visited Bangri Chogtrul Rinpoche's wife, Nyima Choedron, in Drapchi prison. Nyima's ten-year sentence for 'splittism' has been reduced twice and ends on February 26, 2007.