Members of the Latvian Parliament have issued a joint statement on the case of Tashi Wangchuk, the Tibetan language advocate who faced a court trial on 4 January. The statement was signed by twenty Latvian parliamentarians who called on China to ensure a “fair and transparent trial of Tashi Wangchuk” while urging China “to implement a judgement process that is constant with international legal standards, with the presence of observers at his trial”, reported the U.S.-based International Campaign for Tibet.
Just two weeks before the adoption of this statement, the Speaker of the Latvian Parliament Honorable Inara Murniece visited China earlier in January. According to the Finland Chinese embassy, on 10 January, delegates comprising of seven parliamentarians from Nordic and Baltic countries including Latvia’s speaker of parliament and Finland’s speaker of parliament, met with the Chinese president Xi Jinping to develop “high-level exchanges and deeper cooperation“.
The Latvian parliamentarians’ statement on Tashi Wangchuk follow a series of similar statements and resolutions calling for Tashi Wangchuk’s release and/or a fair trial. The European Parliament adopted an urgency resolution calling for the immediate release of Tashi Wangchuk and Tibetan monk Choekyi. German Parliamentarians and French Senators have also issued statements urging the Chinese government to implement a fair judgement process.
Tashi Wangchuk appeared for his trial on 4 January after remaining in detention for nearly two years. Foreign diplomats from United States, Germany, Britain, Canada, and the European Union based in China, have travelled to Yushu to observe the trial but were denied access to the court proceedings. Tashi Wangchuk’s trial ran for four hours but ended without a verdict.
– Report filed by UN/ EU and HR Desk –