Monday 3 January 2011

Tibet Political prisoner in critical health


(TibetanReview.net, Jan01, 2011) A political prisoner in Tibet serving a 17-year jail term is critically ill and could die unless given timely medical care, said the exile Tibetan government on its web siteTibet.net Dec 30.  The report attributed the condition of Jigme Gyatso to torture in prison. He is held at the Chushul prison in the outskirt of Lhasa city, meant for long-serving prisoners.

The report said Jigme was given a 15-year jail term by the Intermediate People’s Court of Lhasa City in 1996 on counter-revolutionary charges following his arrest with a group of other Tibetans residing in the city. He was originally incarcerated in Drapchi prison in Lhasa where he raised slogans shouting long life for the Dalai Lama. It earned him a two-year extension to his prison term.

He was also subjected to severe beatings, which continued after he was shifted to Chushul. The report said he was surviving on stake and described his health condition as debilitating.

Jigme was born 1961 in Sangchu county of Gansu Province but lived in Lhasa at the time of his arrest. His mother passed away two years after his arrest. He was said to be among the first Tibetans to campaign for the Tibetan cause in Sangchu.

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