Renowned Tibetan writer Go Sherab Gyatso has been sentenced to ten years in prison by the Lhasa City Intermediate People’s Court, on charges related to illegal separatist activities.
[Posted on T.T Tibetan site 13 December 2021] After being detained for over a year and a month following his arrest on October 26, 2020, by the Chinese police, the Tibetan scholar monk was sentenced to ten years in prison by the Lhasa City Intermediate People’s Court. Apart from information that he is being held at a prison near Lhasa, his condition, the date of his trial, and his exact charges remain unknown.
Kesa Lhudup, who lives in France, told Tibet Times that Go Sherab Gyatso was arrested on the 26th of October, 2020, and that his two sisters in Lhasa had only been able to pass along five kilograms of barley to him throughout his detention due to extreme restrictions.
The news of the renowned educator and writer’s sentencing has led to Tibetans inside Tibet and those in exile to express sentiments of sadness and solidarity through their social media accounts. Many educated Tibetan youths inside Tibet have posted Go Sherab Gyatso’s photo on their micro-messaging platforms and laud his ideals of national integrity. One Tibetan wrote, “While some may pretend to understand or are consumed by ignorance, just the belief that such an act is illegal is a frightening development. On hearing that he will be undergoing such hardship for ten years, a feeling of sadness and anger overwhelms me”. Another wrote, “Weapons and arms are not the only means to destroy a nation. Suppressing and restricting luminaries who can see the truth can annihilate a nation too.”
The 46-year-old was born on 9th September 1976 in Ngaba County, in the so-called Sichuan Province’s Ngaba Autonomous Prefecture. He was enrolled as a monk at Kirti Monastery at the age of ten. The renowned writer, intellectual and teacher, reputed within Tibet and in exile, has authored more than nine books, including Wake Up, General Knowledge & the Path, Find Your Own Path, Reflections in a Changing World, Ideas and Investigations, Across the Himalayas , Views on Discernment, The Path of a Noble Being, and Insights of a Thinker.
Go Sherab Gyatso had encounters with the Chinese government on a few occasions due to his political advocacy. He was detained on three earlier occasions: he was first arrested in Ngaba in the year 1998 during a Chinese government crackdown; arrested for a second time in Lhasa during the 2008 pan-Tibet uprising; and detained for the third time in 2011.
