Ngawang Choephel is sentenced to 18 years in prison
Ngawang Choephel is a Tibetan exile and musician who was raised in India
and spent a year studying in the United States as a Fulbright scholar.
He traveled to Tibet in the summer of 1995 to make a documentary film
about traditional Tibetan performing arts. In August 1995, he was
detained by authorities in Shigatse and was held without charge for over
a year. In October 1996, it was announced that he was under investigation
for "suspected violations" of the State Security Law.
On December 26, 1996, the Tibet People's Broadcasting Station reported
that Ngawang Choephel had been sentenced by the Shigatse Intermediate
Court to 18 years in prison for carrying out "espionage activities."
Amnesty International's information indicates that the sole purpose of
Ngawang Choephel's trip to Tibet was to study Tibetan musical traditions,
and that his conviction and prison sentence are not supported by any
evidence.
(Source: Amnesty International USA's Freedom Writers Network,
April 1997.)
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