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| Khenpo Karma Tsewang |
China Aid
By Rachel Ritchie
(Midland, Texas—Sept. 10, 2015) Following the passing of Tibetan Buddhist monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche who died of health complications while serving a life-sentence in prison and the release of political prisoner Chen Kegui, China Aid updated the China 18 campaign with the addition of two prisoners of conscience.
Gao Yu, a 71-year old veteran Chinese journalist, was arrested before the 25th anniversary of the crackdown on the 1989 student-led protests in Tiananmen Square and sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly leaking state secrets.
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| Gao Yu |
Gao has been imprisoned on two previous occasions: once immediately following the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and again in 1993 for “publishing state secrets.” Gao received medical parole during her previous imprisonments; however, she continued to suffer from chronic ailments at the time of her 2014 arrest.
Khenpo Karma Tsewang was also added to the China 18 recently. He suffers from several physical ailments andis serving a 2 1/2-year prison term for “divulging state secrets.” He was initially detained in December 2013 when Tibetan police followed him to neighboring Sichuan province and arrested him for “anti-state activities.”
Khenpo Karma Tsewang, the abbot of a monastery in China’s inland Qinghai province, was reported to have been sentenced by a Tibetan court in a secret trial; however, no official notice has ever been released by authorities.
The China 18 are representatives of the thousands of prisoners of conscience like them throughout China. China Aid, along with a coalition of international non-governmental organizations, advocates for the immediate and unconditional release of Chinese citizens imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs.
China Aid Contacts
Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director
Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.chinaaid.org