Imprisoned Tibetan Writer Shokjang
VOA: Shokjang, a prominent Tibetan writer and blogger who was sentenced to a three year prison term by the People’s Intermediate Court in Rebgong, Malho (Huangnan) Prefecture, Qinghai Province on February 15 of last year is currently serving his sentence at the Men-Yuan county prison located in China’s Qinghai Province.
Shokjung is the pen name of Druklo, a prolific young writer from Gengya, a township within the Labrang district in Amdo, who has not only written heartfelt prose and poetry that looks at life in Tibet today, but also comment on the use and misuse of law and security from a common man’s perspective.
Shokjang was first detained in 2010 while still attending the Lanzhou Minority University. He and fellow student Teurang were arrested for writing about the Tibetan protests of 2008 and the harsh responses from government forces. At that time, Shokjung was eventually released after a short period but Teurang was given and served a four year sentence.
On March 19, 2015, Chinese security police in Rebkong arrested the young Tibetan blogger Shokjung and his brother in law. While his fellow detainee has been released since then, Shokjung remains under detention without any charges filed against him.
According to sources, family members and friends are strictly restricted from visiting the imprisoned dissident. Individuals with necessary documents including an ID card and approval letter from their local police office are allowed a five minute visitation if they spoke in Tibetan, and an increased thirty minute visitation time if the conversation took place in Chinese instead.
Unlike other inmates, political prisoners and their conversations are closely monitored by the prison guards.
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