Tenzin Choephel, 45, a Tibetan businessman from Nagchu (Ch: Nagchu) City’s Sernye District in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) region has been sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment on the charges of “inciting separatism” reports Dharamshala based human right group, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
He was known for his philanthropic, environmental and cultural advocacy work in his community. He was first arbitrarily detained from Gongkar Airport in March 2018 and remained incommunicado until his sentencing on May 24, 2019 on the charges of “inciting separatism”, “illegally sending intelligence overseas” and “financing activities that endangered state security”. His family’s appeal was rejected by the Tibet Autonomous Region Higher People’s Court in October 2019. He is currently being imprisoned in Chushur (Ch:Qushui) prison in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet.
Commenting on how the legal system works in the Tibet region, TCHRD said “the rejection of his appeal was a foregone conclusion due to the discriminatory criminal justice system, which is subservient to political and ideological considerations of the Chinese party-state. In practice, the right to appeal is just a paper exercise”.
The United Nations, European Union, and the Human Rights Desk at the Central Tibetan Administration have commented in a report, “Choephel’s imprisonment is yet another example of Tibetans’ relentless persecution for opposing destructive development projects to protect their environmental and cultural treasures. Furthermore, it is part of China’s calculated effort to crush dissent against the Chinese Communist Party by attacking prominent Tibetans including community leaders, intellectuals, rights defenders and writers.”
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