A prominent Tibetan blogger known by the single name of Druklo has been sentenced to three years in prison on charges of inciting separatism and endangering social stability.
After being in custody since March last year, he was convicted of so-called splittist activities last Wednesday (17 February) by a court in the Huangnan Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai province.
Druklo, 32, who uses the pen name Shokjang, denied the charges against him and said he would appeal.
It is believed that the Chinese authorities targeted him because his blog and social media posts told of the increased presence of armed security forces in Tibet, plus political repression and environmental degradation.
In calling for Druklo’s conviction and sentence to be overturned, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said: “Suppressing reporting about what is happening in Tibet only leads to further misunderstanding between Tibetans and Chinese.”
And that, said CPJ’s Asia programme coordinator, Bob Dietz, “is exactly what the Chinese government does not want.”
Media access to the Tibetan autonomous region and the Tibetan areas of western China has been severely restricted since violence broke out in March 2008. International journalists are barred from visiting the region.
According to the CPJ’s most recent survey of imprisoned journalists, Druklo is one of 49 journalists behind bars in China, which is the leading jailer of journalists worldwide.
Sources: RFA/Tibet Post International/CPJ
.jpg?w=600)
