{"id":12414,"date":"2020-03-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/activist-tibetan-monk-dies-after-illness-imprisonment\/"},"modified":"2020-03-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T23:00:00","slug":"activist-tibetan-monk-dies-after-illness-imprisonment","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/activist-tibetan-monk-dies-after-illness-imprisonment\/","title":{"rendered":"Activist Tibetan monk dies after illness, imprisonment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tashi-Phunsok-split-1-890x467.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10037\" width=\"653\" height=\"342\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Tibetan monk sentenced to prison alongside the revered activist \nTenzin Delek Rinpoche died this week in Tibet after a lengthy illness, \nthree of his close aides now living in exile told the International \nCampaign for Tibet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ven. Tashi Phuntsok, died on March 16 (though some sources say it was\n on March 17), aides said. On account of the information blackout the \nChinese government has placed on Tibet, a country China brutally annexed\n in 1959 and continues to rule over with an iron fist,\u2014the aides were \nnot able to give details about Tashi Phuntsok\u2019s death except that he \npassed away while being taken to the hospital for treatment.  Speaking \nto ICT, the aides said his health had been poor ever since his <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.org\/imprisoned-aide-of-tenzin-delek-rinpoche-released\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">release<\/a> from Yakra Phuk Prison near Dartsedo (Chinese: Kangding) in Sichuan Province in 2003. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On April 17, 2002, Tashi Phuntsok was detained from his Jamyang  Choekhorling Monastery in Nyachukha (Ch: Yajiang), in eastern Tibet, and  falsely accused of colluding with Tenzin Delek Rinpoche in a series of  bomb explosions in the city of Chengdu. After a sham trial, Tenzin Delek  Rinpoche was sentenced to death with two years reprieve and Ven. Tashi  Phuntsok to seven years imprisonment. There was an <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.org\/tibetan-religious-leader-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-ict-calls-for-the-immediate-release-of-tenzin-delek-rinpoche\/\" target=\"_blank\">international outcry<\/a> over absence of a fair trial for them and other Tibetans who were also sentenced to varying prison terms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Local Tibetans believe the Chinese authorities framed Tenzin Delek \nRinpoche on account of his social activism and huge following. Tashi \nPhuntsok also had been in the forefront of activism since 1993, \nprotesting against the Chinese government\u2019s deforestation drive in his \nregion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time of his arrest, he had pulmonary conditions that \ndeteriorated sharply in the course of his imprisonment. Therefore, he \nwas released prematurely after less than two years in prison as the \nChinese authorities feared he might die under their watch. Chinese \nauthorities are known to release political prisoners in near death or \ncritical health conditions to avoid responsibility for them dying in \ncustody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to ICT sources, at the time of his release from prison in \n2003 Tashi Phuntsok had shrunk in size and was nothing more than \u201cskin \nover skeleton\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After recuperating at his home for about a year, he went wandering in\n different places, the sources said. But they were not able to say what \nhe was doing during those many years before he was known to have \nreturned to his hometown around 2018. At that time, the monks of the \nKham Nalanda monastery hosted a reception to celebrate his return, and \nhe was then seen to be frail in health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ven. Phuntsok was 60 years old at the time of his death. At his \nmonastery, he undertook responsibilities as a manager (Tibetan: \nCha-zoed) for ten years before assuming a role as a disciplinarian. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Tibetan monk sentenced to prison alongside the revered activist  Tenzin Delek Rinpoche died this week in Tibet after a lengthy illness,  three of his close aides now living in exile told the International  Campaign for Tibet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[45,691],"news_tag":[673],"class_list":["post-12414","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","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>Activist Tibetan monk dies after illness, imprisonment - 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\/activist-tibetan-monk-dies-after-illness-imprisonment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Activist Tibetan monk dies after illness, imprisonment - 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