{"id":12154,"date":"2018-08-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/chinese-courts-decision-to-uphold-tashi-wangchuks-prison-sentence-is-a-travesty-of-justice-ict-says\/"},"modified":"2018-08-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-08-22T22:00:00","slug":"chinese-courts-decision-to-uphold-tashi-wangchuks-prison-sentence-is-a-travesty-of-justice-ict-says","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/chinese-courts-decision-to-uphold-tashi-wangchuks-prison-sentence-is-a-travesty-of-justice-ict-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese court\u2019s decision to uphold Tashi Wangchuk\u2019s prison sentence is a travesty of justice, ICT says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The International Campaign for Tibet today said that a Chinese court\u2019s decision to reject the appeal of Tibetan language rights advocate Tashi Wangchuk is a travesty of justice\u2014and that Wangchuk should be released immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On August 23, 2018, Wangchuk\u2019s lawyer, Liang Xiaojun, announced via social media that the Qinghai Higher People\u2019s Court had rejected \u201cboth the argument from Tashi Wangchuk himself and the defending statement from the lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The court document stating that Wangchuk\u2019s appeal had been denied is dated July 30, 2018. Xiaojun said the ruling was announced in the Yushu City Detention Center on August 13 and that Wangchuk\u2019s \u201cfamily was not allowed to hear the sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The court document says that Tashi Wangchuk \u201cdistorted the facts, attacking the state\u2019s policies on ethnic minorities, making remarks that undermine ethnic unity and national unity. His behavior violated the legal bottom line of citizen\u2019s freedom of speech, and was clearly subjective and deliberate. His reasons for appeal and the defense\u2019s opinion cannot be established.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wangchuk, 33, had appealed the decision by the Yushu Intermediate People\u2019s Court on May 22, 2018 to <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/tibetan-language-rights-advocate-tashi-wangchuk-sentenced-to-five-years-in-prison\/\">sentence him to five years\u2019 imprisonment on charges of \u201cincitement to separatism.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is clear that during the initial process in Yushu and the subsequent appeal process in the Qinghai Higher People\u2019s Court, Tashi Wangchuk did not receive a fair trial,\u201d said Bhuchung K. Tsering, Vice President of ICT. \u201cTashi Wangchuk is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for his peaceful expression of opinion concerning the rights of the Tibetan people to study their own language, as guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution. This ruling shows that when it comes to Tibet, the Chinese authorities have systematically disregarded the rule of law and international human rights standards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tsering added: \u201cThe rejection of this appeal is a clear and chilling indication of the shift in Chinese policy towards criminalization of Tibetan culture itself \u2013 attacking individuals and groups who simply seek to promote their language. Tashi Wangchuk should be released immediately and unconditionally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wangchuk was arrested in early 2016, <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/imprisoned-tibetan-language-advocate-tashi-wangchuk-faces-false-separatism-charges\/\">two months after he was featured in a New York Times video and article about Tibetan language education<\/a>. In the video, he can be seen requesting that Chinese authorities allow the Tibetan language to be taught in schools in Tibet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wangchuk stood trial in January 2018. In the first known instance of an international news story being used in a criminal prosecution against a Tibetan, the New York Times video was entered into court as evidence\u2014despite Wangchuk\u2019s clear disavowals of separatism and his stated intention to use Chinese laws to protect the Tibetan language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wangchuk pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. A verdict was not returned until the morning of May 22, 2018, when his lawyer announced that he had been given a five-year sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wangchuk is among a younger generation in Tibet who have prioritized protection of the Tibetan language, the bedrock of cultural and religious identity, framing their concerns in the context of Chinese law and regulations. In the New York Times video, Wangchuk is seen saying: \u201cI want to try to use the People\u2019s Republic of China\u2019s laws to solve the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Governments and elected officials across the world have called for Wangchuk\u2019s release. In February 2018, <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/ict-welcomes-un-experts-call-for-immediate-release-of-tibetan-language-advocate-tashi-wangchuk\/\">six United Nations human rights experts condemned the \u201ccriminalization of linguistic and cultural rights advocacy\u201d<\/a> and called for his release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The denial of Wangchuk\u2019s appeal should be of grave concern to foreign and independent media in China, who are already severely restricted in their activities. His imprisonment intensifies the dangers to Tibetans who engage in even harmless conversation with journalists visiting Tibet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The International Campaign for Tibet today said that a Chinese court\u2019s decision to reject the appeal of Tibetan language rights advocate Tashi Wangchuk is a travesty of justice\u2014and that Wangchuk should be released immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12134,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[45,691],"news_tag":[673],"class_list":["post-12154","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-inside-tibet","categorie-news","news_tag-repression"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chinese court\u2019s decision to uphold Tashi Wangchuk\u2019s prison sentence is a travesty of justice, ICT says - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/chinese-courts-decision-to-uphold-tashi-wangchuks-prison-sentence-is-a-travesty-of-justice-ict-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chinese court\u2019s decision to uphold Tashi Wangchuk\u2019s prison sentence is a travesty of justice, ICT says - 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