Former political prisoner detained for social media posts
Tibetan language activist Tashi Wangchuk was detained for 15 days
Free Tibet’s research partner, Tibet Watch, has learned that Tibetan language advocate Tashi Wangchuk was detained last month on 20 October. The Yushu City Police Detention Centre released him last Monday after 15 days.
The organisation responsible for his detention was the ‘Cybersecurity Brigade’ (网安大队).
Tibet Watch obtained the official arrest warrant dated 20 October 2024 by the Yushu City Public Security Bureau, which states that Tashi Wangchuk was given 15-day administrative detention penalty for having supposedly fabricated and spread, since June this year, “unconfirmed, false, and untrue videos and speeches” that slander and defame the government organs on social media platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou.
The notification further stated that his posts distorted and denied the decisions and policies implemented by the government and seriously disrupted the cyberspace environment and social public order.
Tashi Wangchuk’s social media accounts show that since June, he had reposted Gonmo Kyi’s documents which demanded for fair retrial of her brother and political prisoner Dorje Tashi, video of police personnel taking off Tibetan prayer flag from the rooftop of his home, as well as a photo of a renowned Tibetan school which was forcibly shut in mid July.
Tashi Wangchuk is a herder-turned-shopkeeper who came to international prominence in late 2015 after appearing in the New York Times article and documentary about his solo advocacy to file a lawsuit against local authorities after local Tibetan classes were shut down. Even after serving a five-year sentence, he continues advocating for the Tibetan language at government offices and monitoring schools that are replacing Tibetan textbooks in favour of Chinese.
A year ago, he was detained and beaten by Chinese police personnel after he posted a video of government staff refusing his request for business license registration. The same year, he was attacked by a group of unidentified, masked men after he posted a video of himself near a Tibetan school.
Information supplied by Tibet Watch
