Tibetan singer Trinley Tsekar has fallen foul of a Chinese clampdown on anti-mining protests.
Chinese authorities have sentenced three Tibetan men to prison on charges of “attempting to split the Chinese nation” in the troubled Diru County in Nagchu Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). The charges are related to the men’s involvement in an anti-mining protest.
According to information received by TCHRD, among the sentenced was Tibetan singer Trinley Tsekar, 22, who was imprisoned for nine years. Two other Tibetans, Choekyap and Tselha, were also sentenced on same charges as Trinley Tsekar. Choekyap was sentenced to 13 years while Tselha was a given three-year prison term.
Singer Trinley Tsekar was arrested around 20 November while he was on his way to the local driving school to get his driver’s license. Choekyap and Tselha were also arrested in the third week of November 2013.
A source with contacts in Diru said all three of them had been charged of instigating one of the year’s largest protests against Chinese mining activities at the sacred Naglha Dzamba Mountain in Diru County.
Due to persistent protests and petitioning by Tibetans, recently local authorities claimed that the Ngalha Dzamba Mountain has now been included in the list of the government’s ‘cultural and environment preservation’ areas and the authorities also praised the protesters for expressing their concern for the environment. However, the source told TCHRD that the Chinese authorities had lied to local Tibetans when they pretended to commiserate with the anti-mining protesters and the claim that Ngalha Dzamba Mountain had been marked as ‘cultural and environment preservation’ area was used to fool the Tibetans.
Back in May, 2013, there were protests by local Tibetans over attempts by a Chinese company to mine for minerals on the mountain considered sacred by the Tibetans.
According to a story from Radio Free Asia entitled, Thousands of Tibetans Protest Against Mine, as many as 5,000 Tibetans protested against Chinese mining operations at a site considered sacred by local residents, drawing a large security force to the area and prompting fears of clashes in May 2013, Tibetan sources said.
The protest took place at Naglha Dzambha mountain in Tibet’s Driru (in Chinese, Biru) county, the scene of similar protests two years ago, sources told RFA.
“On May 24, about 100 members a Chinese company arrived at Naglha Dzambha on the pretext of putting up cable towers and power lines and building hydroelectric projects for the benefit of the people,” a resident of the area told an RFA Tibetan Service call-in show. “Actually, they were there to mine minerals,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Chinese authorities appear to have used political charges to imprison the men protesting over the threat to the environment and what they consider a sacred mountain.
The TCHRD story can be found HERE.
