On July 5th and following on the 13th, Gonpo Kyi, the sister of Tibetan businessman Dorjee Tashi held a spontaneously peaceful protest in front of Drapchi prison in Lhasa, requesting to meet with her brother. Still, the Chinese police ignored her request, and she was physically beaten by officers.
The Tibet Times received two short video clips where Gonpo Kyi said, “We cannot record what we protested out there. We are not allowed to take videos. We are beaten and phones taken away. Five police officers come for one person. Whether in front of prison doors or the supreme court, it is the same. I am going to tell you what we have done, even it is permitted or not. According to the National Constitution, the law for the leaders and common people is equal. And the law for Tibetans and Chinese people is equal. Even if it is so, do we have that equality?”
On the 12th of July, Thursday afternoon, the Norbu House held Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s Courage Award ceremony. It was organized by the Tibetan Women Association, the National Democracy Party of Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet, and the International Tibet network together. This year’s award has been given to Tibetan Political prisoner and well-known businessman, social servant Dorjee Tashi La and his sister Gonpo Kyi.
Dorjee Tashi is the owner of the Yak Hotel in Lhasa. In 2008, after some months of 2008 peaceful protest, the Chinese government accused him of supporting protesters and sending long-life prayer money to His Holiness. He was then arrested and sentenced to eight months in jail. No one knows of his whereabouts. His brother Dorjee Tsedan was also arrested without any evidence on May 17th, 2010. After being detained for two years the Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court secretly accused him of defaulting on a 150 thousand Chinese Yuan loan, and a life sentence was given to Dorjee Tashi La. His brother Dorjee Tsedan was given a six-year sentence and imprisoned in the largest prison of the Tibetan autonomous region, the Drapchi prison, as a harmful individual to national security.
