DHARAMSHALA: Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen who was sentenced to six years imprisonment for making the documentary ‘Leaving Fear Behind’ was released from Chinese prison yesterday.

According to a source from the region, Dhondup Wangchen reached his home in Bayen in Sangchu county at around 3.00 pm yesterday. “Chinese authorities contacted his family a few days back and informed them that he would be released on 6 June from Sangchu county. However, he was suddenly released yesterday without any prior information,” the source said.

Dhondup Wangchen, along with Tibetan monk Golog Jigme, was arrested in March 2008 for making the documentary ‘Leaving Fear Behind’ in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The documentary consists of a series of interviews with ordinary Tibetans discussing His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Chinese government, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and mass migration of Han Chinese into traditional Tibetan areas.

Since his imprisonment, numerous international human rights organisations have appealed the Chinese government to release him, including Amnesty International, which named him a prisoner of conscience. In 2012, he was awarded the International Press Freedom Award by the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Dhondup Wangchen’s release from prison come a few weeks after Golog Jigme escaped to exile in India following his escape from Chinese prison.