Adak Kalgyam, 27 years old, is the youngest of seven brothers. He is married with two young daughters and is from Kashul village in Lithang county. He had studied in Drepung monastery in South India for three years before returning to Tibet in 2001.

From the time of his arrest on October 3, Kalgyam’s family have been denied access to him. They have not been told where he is being held, despite constantly requesting Lithang county police station to tell them, according to the Free Tibet's source.

On 13 July 2008 his family where told that he was to be sentenced the following day by the Dartsedo People’s Court. Up until the time of his sentencing, Kalgyam had had no access to a lawyer, though his family were allowed to speak to him on 14 July, again according to the source.

Kalgyam told his family that his health was normal but that he had been hospitalised for one month due to earlier maltreatment in prison. According to the source, Kalgyam told his family that he had been subjected to solitary confinement in a dark cell on a number of occasions which had led him to faint sometimes. His family reported that marks from handcuffs were still visible.

Runggye Adak, (Adak Kalgyam’s uncle) had also been arrested after he mounted the stage at the horse festival and made an impassioned call for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet. His call had been greeted by roars of approval from the Tibetan crowd. Runggye Adak was sentenced to eight years imprisonment by the Kandze Intermediate Court on November 20 for 'inciting splittism'. Adak Lopoe, Adak Kalgyam's elder brother, was sentenced with Runggye Adak. Lopoe was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for 'colluding with foreign separatist force [a reference to Lopoe’s alleged attempts to distribute photos of Runggye Adak's protest] to split the country and distributing political pamphlets', according to Radio Free Asia.

Free Tibet's source was not able to say why Adak Kalgyam was sentenced so long after the sentences handed down to Runggye Adak and Adak Lopoe. There has been speculation that because Runggye Adak's sentence was popularised in the media and by campaigning on his behalf, his sentence may have been lessened so as to avoid criticism.

Following their sentencing, Runggye Adak and Adak Lopoe had been held at an undisclosed location in Ngawa county in Kham (Chinese province: Sichuan). After the Sichuan earthquake of May 12 2008, Runggye Adak and Adak Lopoe were moved from Ngawa county to Dartsedo. Their families requested meetings with the prisoners but were denied access and were told that no visits would be allowed until after the Beijing Olympics.