Shogdung  (AKA Tagyal)

Update 15 October

Tibetan blogger Woeser has reported that after half year detention, Shogdung was released on 'bail pending trial' on 14 October and returned home in good health.

Under this bail the individual is not allowed to leave their city or county of residence without permission.

It is limited to one year and applies to people suspected of or charged with crimes which are considered minor, or to those who “do not pose a danger to society” or to those against whom there is insufficient evidence to justify arrest.

Of all pre-trial control measures in China’s Criminal Procedure Law, it is the least restrictive.

Shogdung's arrest

Leading Tibetan intellectual Tagyal, age 45 (pen name Shogdung) was arrested on 23 April evening at this work at a publishing house in Xining, capital of Qinghai Province. His home and computers were searched and confiscated. The exact charges against him are unknown however it is likely to be related to his criticisms of the Chinese government.

His daughter said on 6 August she was told by authorities that Shogdung's case is 'special as it is to do with different ethnicities'. His family has not been allowed to visit him in prison since his detention.

His arrest comes as a surprise to many, as Shogdung authored many books in which he embraced Chinese modernisation of Tibet and he was generally viewed as close to China’s Communist Party. However Shogdung changed his views after the 2008 protests which he called a 'peaceful revolution'.

One week after the earthquake in Jiegu Town (Chinese: Yushu), Shogdung and other prominent writers including Jamyang Kyi, published an open letter in which they criticised the government for the relief effort and urged people to donate directly to the survivors and not to the Chinese Red Cross:

“As the news from the mouthpiece for the Party organisations can not be believed, we dare not believe in the Party organisations ... It is best to deliver donations with your own trusted personnel because no one knows for sure if there's any place free of corruption or embezzlement." Excerpt from the open letter

It is unknown if his arrest is connected to the open letter or the publication of his new book titled 'The Line Between Sky and Earth' in which he criticised the Chinese government for its crackdown on protests in Tibet in 2008. The book was published without official authorisations and became a best seller through word of mouth.

Read the open letter signed by Shogdung, translated by High Peaks Pure Earth. Here you can also read a blog post about circumstances of Shogdung’s arrest.

Listen to the BBC's radio report on the increasing crackdown on Tibet's artists and writers. The report on Tibet starts 16.08 minutes into the programme.

Read an excerpt from his book, 'The Line Between Sky and Earth' (translation by ICT)

As to how they [the Chinese authorities] have transformed Tibet into a terrifying battle ground: ever since they [Tibetans] have launched [literally, the peaceful movement], all corridors in the monasteries have become archery grounds, they have aligned their tanks and guns. It makes one's hair stand on end. At most of the junctions of monasteries and villages, soldiers parade. Such places are full of spies. It is so frightening! It makes one shiver with fear. At the top of the houses, in the streets and in the main places, they have hidden secret weapons. Spies are waiting. My flesh is petrified, my bones hurt. Tourists or pilgrims are searched at the point of the gun, they are interrogated and required to register and to do all sorts of such things. It is freezing, it feels so cold. Most of the monks have been expelled to towns, most town-dwellers are locked in their houses. They [the authorities] listen and watch on the sly letters, phones, computers, websites, tea-houses, cafes.

"They have made everyone, be they close or distant, powerless, helpless and desperate. In daytime, they run like jackals. At night, they sneak in like bandits. Without warning, they attack chapels and meeting halls in monasteries, and homes and families in towns. They search houses from top to bottom, and again from top to bottom. They look for pictures of the Victorious One [the Dalai Lama]. They look for hidden weapons. Incidentally, they look for money. They look for valuables. They throw holy images on the floor and trample them. They say that people with a human face have the heart of beasts and are wolves wearing monk's robes.