Jigme Gyatso impending sentence: arrest warrant surfaces

Jigme, also known as Jigme Gyatso, the intrepid monk from Labrang Monastery who exposed Chinese brutality to the outside world might be sentenced soon, according to information received by TCHRD.

It is learnt that on 1 January 2012 at around 3 pm (Tibet Time), the Kanlho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture issued a procuratorate-approved arrest warrant for Jigme. The warrant states that Jigme is charged with engaging in activities aimed at splitting the country. The warrant (written in Chinese) further notes that Jigme is currently held in the Public Security Bureau detention Centre in Tsoe (Chinese: Hezuo) city.

Under the Chinese law, once the procuratoracy organs approve a case and issues arrest warrant, the person accused will mostly likely be charged and sentenced.

Monk Jigme was arrested in the evening of 20 August 2011 by around 40 police officers of the Public Security Bureau from a hotel called ‘Z-hong Yan’ in Tsoe city, Kanlho Prefecture. Police officers raided his room and seized around 30 portraits of the Dalai Lama, two computer systems and two laptops.

The arrest warrant is the only information about Jigme Gyatso that TCHRD has received since his arrest on 20 August 2011.