Tibetan writer sentenced to 3 yrs’ imprisonment

Jolep Dawa, a teacher at Ngaba County Middle School for Nationalities, was sentenced to a three year imprisonment term by a court in Barkham (in Chinese: Ma’erkang) earlier this month. He was arrested on 1 October 2010 and was held at Jinchuan County Detention Centre for over a year before he was sentenced. The charges for which he was arrested and sentenced are not yet known.

Dawa, 39 years old, is also the founder, editor and writer of the monthly Tibetan language magazine, “Du-rab Kyi Nga.”

Several years ago, Dawa was detained for around a month for his involvement in a mass campaign to end the use of animal fur on Tibetan clothing.

He was arrested again on 16 March 2008 and detained for three months.

There is no information regarding where he is imprisoned, his trail proceeding and his health at the moment.