Tibetan Writer Tagyal Arrested After Criticizing Quake Relief Efforts

A Tibetan writer in China has been detained. It comes after he signed an open letter alleging corruption during earthquake relief efforts in Qinghai Province.

Tagyal, who goes by the penname Shogdung, is a prominent Tibetan scholar. Last Friday local police took him from his home.

Tagyal and seven other Tibetan intellectuals signed an open letter on April 17. The letter urged citizens to donate food and clothes to victims of the recent earthquake—but warned against possible corruption by officials. It said, “just as the news from the mouthpiece for the [Communist] Party organizations cannot be believed, we dare not believe in the Party organizations.“

The website that first published this letter has been taken offline.

It’s unclear whether police arrested Tagyal specifically because of the letter. Earlier this year he had published a book critical of the Chinese regime’s actions during the 2008 anti-government protests in Tibet.

Foto: NTDTV