Four Tibetans were detained in western China’s Sichuan province on Monday after calling for the release of Tibetan spiritual leader the Panchen Lama, who disappeared into Chinese custody as a child in 1995 after being authorized in his role by the exiled Dalai Lama, Tibetan sources said.
Three of the four Tibetans are still being held, while the fourth, who is physically disabled and unable to speak, has now been released, sources said, adding that those still in detention will be tried by a local court in about 15 days. Wangchen, aged 20 and the group’s leader, had recited prayers and shouted slogans while taking part in a clean-up drive on April 29 on a hill behind a monastery in Sershul county in the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
