Tibetan monk released in poor health
Rachung was jailed for sending prayer money to Tibetan exile monasteries to pray his late uncle who died from self immolation
Rachung Gendun was released on 16 November in poor health and is currently undergoing medical treatment at Huaxi hospital in Chengdu, Tibet Watch can confirm.
Rachung was arrested on 1 April 2021 at his residence at Kirti Monastery. Three months later, he was sentenced to three years and six months for an international money transfer he made to Tibetan monasteries-in-exile in India.
The money transfer Rachung made was a prayer offering for his late uncle Taphun who had set himself on fire at the age of 81 in protest against the Chinese government.
Rachung’s release comes after his mother passed away without having once met her son since his imprisonment.
“And sadly, on 10 June 2024, 80-year-old Norpu, Gendun’s mother, passed away without seeing her son. She was harassed and surveilled multiple times by Chinese authorities following her brother Taphun’s self-immolation on 27 March 2022,” a source shared.
Rachung Gendun’s late uncle Taphun (L) and his late mother Norpu (R). Photo taken before Taphun’s death from self-immolation protest in March 2022
Information supplied by Tibet Watch
