14 July 2006
Tibetan monk faces eight years sentence
(RFA) A Tibetan monk in Sichuan province is facing up to eight years in jail for allegedly painting separatist slogans on government property and circulating pro-independence posters, according to sources in the region. The monk was identified as Namkha Gyaltsen, from the Gyasoktsang family in Thinley Lado village, in Kardze (Chin: Ganzi). He is a master chanter at the Kardze monastery, said the sources, who asked not to be named. He and three other Tibetans, two of whom were monks, allegedly painted pro-independence slogans on the walls of government buildings in Kardze and on two iron bridges nearby in July 2005. Fearing arrest, the group attempted to escape to India via Lhasa in October 2005, but police pursued them, detained them in Lhasa and returned them to Kardze. The three others in the group were subsequently released in February 2006 but Namkha Gyaltsen was accused of advocating separatist activities in Kandze County and is still being held. "According to local Chinese security officials, he is facing a sentence of seven to eight years", the sources said, adding that he was said to be held in Ngaba (Chin: Aba). Chinese authorities at the Kardze police bureau and detention centre, contacted by telephone, denied holding or charging Namkha Gyaltsen. "We have no one by the name of Namkha detained in Ganzi", said one.