Tibetan Writer, Tashi Rabten Sentenced to Four Years

In China a Young Tibetan Writer, Tashi Rabten was sentenced to four years in jail, according to the International Campaign for Tibet, or ICT.

The charges against Rabten are apparently for co-authoring a collection of essays, titled “Written in Blood.” The articles cover policies the Chinese regime put in place after the 2008 unrest and crackdown in Tibet.

Rabten is the editor of a literary magazine, Eastern Snow Mountain, that the Chinese regime has banned. According to the ICT, the magazine was the first publication in Tibetan language to offer critical commentary on the crackdown.

Three other writers who contributed to the magazine were also arrested earlier, on December 2010. The writers are all in their thirties, and were sentenced on charges of (quote) “incitement to split the nation.”

Rabten was detained for a year before the official sentencing in the Aba Intermediate People’s Court on June 2nd. The charges are not known. The county officials refused to comment on the matter.

Foto: NTD