Prominent Tibetan Buddhist monk sentenced to 3 years in prison

Lobsang Thabkhey was arrested in June 2023 for publishing books from Tibetans in exile.
By RFA Tibetan
2024.09.13
Lobsang Thabkhey, a Tibetan Buddhist monk at Kirti Monastery in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, is seen in an undated photo. (Citizen photo)
Photo: RFA

Read RFA coverage of this story in Tibetan. 

A Tibetan Buddhist monk who worked as a monastery librarian was sentenced to three years in prison during a “secret” trial, two sources from inside Tibet told Radio Free Asia.

Police arrested Lobsang Thabkhey, 55, in June 2023 for allegedly engaging in “separatist activities.” 

They accused him of possessing and republishing books from the exiled Tibetan community and for having contact with people outside the region when he was in charge of the library at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba county in southwest China’s Sichuan province

Chinese authorities consider it illegal for Tibetans inside Tibet to contact people outside the region and engage with the exiled Tibetan community or the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who China considers a “separatist.”

While the specific charges leveled against Thabkey are unknown, sources said they were likely related to previous charges of publishing “banned books” in Tibet and having contact with “external forces.”

Thabkhey’s family recently learned about the sentence, but authorities did not provide information about the date of the trial or the nature of the charges, said the sources. 

According to China’s Criminal Procedure Law, family members of those in custody must be notified within 24 hours of their arrest, except in crimes or cases deemed to be endangering national security where notification may obstruct the investigation. 

Radio Free Asia contacted the Ngaba Public Security Bureau for confirmation, but an official there who did not provide his name said the office had no information about Thabkhey.  

Prior to Thabkhey’s 2023 arrest, police repeatedly summoned and interrogated him about his alleged “separatist activities,” the sources said. 

Thabkhey hails from Ngaba’s Meruma township, which has been the scene of many protests and pro-Tibet political activities since 2008. 

Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

POST A COMMENT

Add your comment by filling out the form below in plain text. Comments are approved by a moderator and can be edited in accordance with RFAs Terms of Use. Comments will not appear in real time. RFA is not responsible for the content of the postings. Please, be respectful of others' point of view and stick to the facts.