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Four Tibetan monks sentenced up to ten years in prison
Phayul[Friday, August 21, 2009 12:34]

Dharamsala, August 21- Four monks of Sera monastery who, along with ten others, carried out a protest at Bharkor street in the Tibetan capital Lhasa last year on March 10 had been sentenced to varying prison terms, according to the Voice of Tibet radio service. Chinese police immediately arrested the fourteen monks who carried the banned Tibetan national flag and shouted slogans calling for Tibet's independence.

Lodoe had been sentenced to ten years in prison and is currently detained at Chushul prison near Lhasa. Lodoe’s family in Sershul, Zachukha, had received an official intimation of the sentencing of Lodoe in April this year and were warned against publicizing the sentencing of Lodoe.

On July 14 this year, Lodoe’s family paid a visit to his prison where they knew that two other companions of Lodoe, 29 year old Lobsang Ngodup and 30 year old Mangay Soepa, had been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.

A native of Zachukha and presently a monk at Sera monastery in south India, told the radio that there is no news about another monk named Thinlay Namgyal, who was arrested on charges of setting ablaze a house in Lhasa last year during the protests.

The same source said another monk named Sonam Dakpa who had visited India a few times was arrested on his way back to Tibet last year around the time of unrest in Tibet and sentenced to ten years in prison. He is detained at Chushul prison.

Since the majority of the fourteen monks arrested were from Zachukha the Chinese authorities suspected Ari Rinpoche’s (spelled as pronounced) hand behind the fourteen monks and arrested him from Lhasa. Ari Rinpoche is the head of Wonpo (spelled as pronounced) monastery in Zachukha and his whereabouts are unknown. Another monk named Draklha, a scripture master at Sera monastery had also been arrested and whereabouts not known.

Den norske TIBET-komité

Den norske Tibet-komité er en partipolitisk uavhengig, landsomfattende organisasjon som er dannet for å arbeide for tibetanernes rettigheter. Tibet-komitéen ble stiftet våren 1989 og har ca 1500 medlemmer. Det finnes tilsvarende støtte-organisasjoner for Tibet over hele verden. Den norske Tibet-komité er en av de største og mest aktive. Våren 1994 arrangerte vi i Norge en konferanse for de europeiske støttegruppene.

Norge og nordmenn har fått en spesiell stilling blant tibetanere etter at deres religiøse og politiske leder, Dalai Lama, i 1989 mottok Nobels fredspris. Flere av de tibetanerne som kom til Norge på 60-tallet, bor her fortsatt, og de er aktive i komitéen. Våren 1996 begynte radiostasjonen Voice of Tibet med sendinger til Tibet, og Norge har igjen styrket sin posisjon i tibetanernes bevissthet.

Tibet ble okkupert av Kina i 1950, og tibetanernes situasjon blir stadig forverret. Fundamentale menneskerettigheter brytes, og den rike tibetanske kulturen står nå i fare for å bli utslettet.

Den norske Tibet-komité har som formål å:

• Få norske myndigheter til anerkjenne Tibet som et okkupert land
  
• Informere om brudd på menneskerettigheter, økonomisk utbytting og diskriminering av tibetanere
  
• Gjøre Tibets rike kultur kjent i Norge