A Tibetan writer who was secretly detained and sentenced to three years imprisonment by in Tibet was released after completing the sentence on Monday. Shokjang has been able to achieve the release from the prison after his detention before the sentence was credited to his three years sentence in February 2016.
“Shokjang, also called Druklo, was released on March 19 and had to be checked through several police stations before being allowed to proceed to his home in Gengya village in Gansu province’s Sangchu (in Chinese, Xiahe) county.” reported a Tibetan source living in exile according to the RFA’s Tibetan Service.
Though there are not much of detailed information about the writer, he is believed to be well and Tibetans from many different areas gathered to in the region to welcome his release. Shokjang who appealed before the court for China’s constitutional right of freedom of expression, over his 17-page writing that landed him into trouble is reported to be closely watched by the Chinese after his release.
“Shokjang, while a student of Tibetan literature at the Northwest University for Nationalities in Lanzhou, had organized student protests calling for greater Tibetan freedom under Chinese rule during widespread protests across Tibetan regions in March 2008.” explained the report that added that the writer was was later secretly detained on March 19, 2015, after writing about the increased presence of armed Chinese security forces in Qinghai’s Rebgong (Tongren) county and about crackdowns on Tibetans.
People’s Intermediate Court in Rebgong on Feb. 17, 2016 handed the detained Tibetan writer three years sentence. Shokjang was released on March 19 after completion of his three years sentence, which came after crediting the one year detainment period he spent before the sentence.