-by International Campaign for Tibet
Prominent Tibetan environmentalist and philanthropist, Karma Samdrup, who has been serving a 15-year prison sentence, has been released upon completion of term. He was first detained on January 7, 2010 and sentenced on June 24, 2010.
The Chinese sentence document said his imprisonment would run until November 19, 2024, after taking off the time served in detention prior to sentencing. Tibet Times reported that Karma might have been released yesterday and is believed to have arrived at his home. A picture of Karma, presumably taken soon after his release, shows a frail but spirited Karma walking with the support of two men.
Unjust imprisonment
Karma, then 42-years-old, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in June 2010 by the Yanqi Hui Autonomous County People’s Court in Xinjiang (known to Uyghurs as East Turkestan). He was detained following unsuccessful efforts to secure the release of his two brothers, who were imprisoned in August 2009 for their efforts to conserve wildlife in Chamdo (Changdu) in Tibet.
The brothers, Rinchen Samdrup and Chime Namgyal had then run into conflict with the local authorities. Karma, then a businessman and collector of Tibetan art and founder of the award-winning Three Rivers Environmental Protection Group, was detained on trumped up charges of excavating and robbing ancient tombs and for which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Click here to read more.
