A-Nya Sengdra sentence extended
Tibetan community leader and environmental defender A-Nya Sengdra has had his seven year sentence extended, and there are serious concerns for his health in prison, according to Tibet Watch sources.
A-Nya Sengdra, who is widely known for campaigning against local corruption, illegal mining, illegal hunting and poaching of endangered animals in his home area of Golok in eastern Tibet, is serving a seven year prison sentence. He was due for release in September when his sentence expires, but according to new information, he has been charged for another offence in prison and his sentence extended. He may now not be due for release until February 2026.
A-Nya Sengdra, a nomad who was popular in his local community for his defense of the local environment and courageous critique of official corruption, has been held mostly incommunicado. In mid-August, his family were allowed to visit him for the first time this year. During last summer’s visit, the first family contact allowed in six years, they were together for only minutes. Given his frail condition during that brief encounter, serious concerns remain about his health.[1]
The injustice of the case against him has been recognised internationally. In an unusual public statement, nine UN human rights experts in 2020 told the Chinese government that they should drop the charges against A-Nya Sengdra and release him, saying: “We are deeply concerned by what appears to be the criminalisation of the legitimate work of a minority community member and human rights defender. We are also concerned about the reports of deterioration of his physical and mental integrity due to poor detention conditions.”
A-Nya Sengdra was detained by the Gade County Public Security Bureau in Golok, Qinghai (the Tibetan area of Amdo) in September 2018, charged with “gathering people to disturb public order”, a reference to his community leadership on environmental protection with local nomads, and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. A-Nya Sengdra’s Chinese lawyer stated at the time that he believed these charges were false and were instead related to an ongoing government-led campaign targeting Tibetans involved in political activity or celebrating their culture, which the Chinese government publicised as a crackdown on ”underworld forces”. During his initial detention, his wife was refused permission to see him.
A-Nya Sengdra has now appealed three times for a retrial without success to the Supreme People’s Court in Xi’an. His Chinese lawyer Lin Qilei said in a social media post on 5 November 2024: “As usual, I filled out the necessary forms and waited in line. After some time, a judge came out and informed me that they had decided not to review Sengdra’s case. He advised me not to return to the court regarding this matter in the future.”
Information supplied by Tibet Watch.
