Tibetan Buddhist monks sentenced to jail after nearly two years of arbitrary detention

Tibet Watch has learned that two Tibetan Buddhist monks were sentenced to over three years in prison by Sershul County Intermediate People's Court in June this year.

Tenzin Dhargye in an undated photo speaking in a classroom

Tenzin Dhargye and Rigtse, were handed prison sentences of three years and six months, and three years respectively. Prior to the ruling,  the pair had been held in arbitrary detention and incommunicado for nearly two years. The exact date of their prison sentence is not known.

Tibet Watch initially reported the detention of Tenzin Dhargye in December 2021, with information about unconfirmed reports of some Tibetan monks having been arrested from the same region. Details have now surfaced of Rigtse possibly being one of those arrested.

The monks are both from the same village of Warong and also studied at the village’s monastery , which had around 250 monks. Warong monastery is located in the county of Sershul (Ch:Shiqu), which, a year ago, saw waves of mass detentions, political indoctrination and closure of social media groups that were reported by Tibet Watch and Tibetan media.

Photos of Dalai Lama and Guns

Screenshot of Tenzin Dhargye’s WeChat ID under the name Follower of Dalai

Much less is known about the reasons they were convicted of, and their actions preceding their detention. However, Tenzin Dhargye was allegedly found with pictures of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the 87-year-old, exiled spiritual leader of Tibet. Describing the extremity with which anyone keeping his photos is handled in the area, a source cited police authorities having ordered them last year:  ‘‘whoever keeping photos of the Dalai Lama will face criminal charges similar to keeping illegal weapons like guns”

In addition to photos, his mobile phone was found with other contents labeled “politically sensitive” by the Chinese government. He holds a WeChat account under the name, Follower of Dalai (Tib: ཏཱ་ལའི་རྗེས་འབྲང་). Tenzin Dhargye is also known to be someone deeply loyal to the Tibetan struggle, who speaks against government policies that adversely affect his village.