A Chinese judge sentenced Tibetan shopkeeper Tashi Wangchuk to five years in prison on Tuesday for inciting separatism, based on his comments in a New York Times documentary in which he talked about the erosion of his culture and language.
His lawyer Liang Xiaojun said that his client said earlier that he planned to appeal the sentence handed down by a judge in the western city of Yushu in Qinghai province. Rights groups condemned the sentence, saying Tashi had committed no crime either under international law or the Chinese Constitution.
Detained in 2016
Tashi, 32, was detained in 2016, two months after the video and accompanying article were published, and went on trial in January. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge of incitement to separatism. At his trial, prosecutors presented the nine-minute video The Times made in 2015 as the sole piece of evidence against Tashi.
The film and article told of how Tashi tried to sue local officials for denying Tibetans education in their own language and Buddhist culture. The Times ’ website is blocked in China.
In the documentary, Tashi, who was described in it as a shopkeeper, spoke extensively in China’s main language, Mandarin, about the “pressure and fear” felt by Tibetans and his worry that their culture is being wiped out through the steady erosion of their language.
Tashi’s detention was condemned by a group of UN human rights experts who called for charges against him to be dropped.
