Lobsang Tenzin was arrested for taking part in the anti-Chinese protests in Lhasa in 1988. Almost blind, with severe diabetes and liver damage due to the abuse in prison, he was released by the Chinese authorities at the end of 2012, but the Tibetan government in exile kept the news secret for "security reasons".

Dharamsala (AsiaNews / RFA) - After 25 years in prison, the Chinese authorities released a Tibetan activist, arrested and sentenced to death for taking part in the anti-Chinese protests in Lhasa in 1988. Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, only recently published the news of the release of Lobsang Tenzin, even if the political prisoner was freed at the end of 2012 because of serious health conditions, due to torture and abuse suffered in prison.

Penpa Tsemonling, a former cellmate of Tenzin, told Radio Free Asia (RFA): "His release was kept secret on purpose, to avoid that the Chinese authorities sending him back to prison once his condition improved." The man would have finished serving his sentence in April last year.

Because of the torture and abuse he suffered in these 25 years, Tenzin has serious liver damage, developed diabetes and is almost completely blind. The activist was one of five Tibetans sentenced for the death of a Chinese police officer, who was beaten and thrown out of the window after being discovered taking pictures of the protesters in Lhasa. Tenzin's role in the killing has never been clarified, despite this, the court first sentenced him to death, and then commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.

The release of Tenzin follows that of another Tibetan activist, the Monk Jigme Gyatso, 52, freed after 17 years in prison.

 

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