17 August 2006
China denies jailing Tibetan teacher for book
(Reuters) Chinese authorities denied that they had jailed a Tibetan history teacher on charges related to spying or leaking state secrets. Dolma Kyab, 29, who taught at a school in Tibet's capital, Lhasa, before his arrest in March 2005, was allegedly imprisoned in September for 10 years. However, "After verification, [we found out] there was no young man named Dolma Kyab sentenced in Tibet", a spokeswoman for the Information Office under China's State Council, or cabinet, said. "However, there is an ethnic Tibetan with the name who was jailed for life for robbery in Gansu province", the spokeswoman said in a prepared statement read to Reuters by telephone. "His sentence has been reduced to a fixed jail term though", she said without providing further details. Dolma Kyab's unpublished book, "The Restless Himalayas", was the reported reason for his conviction. But the Chinese spokeswoman said: "There was no such book".