Sungrab Gyatso, 34 from the monastery of Mu-ra, is in prison since 25 March. The verdict delivered on 16 December, by the Intermediate People's Court, charges him for leading a student group. He is active in the recovery of Tibetan language and traditions.

Dharamsala (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The policy of arrests and convictions of Tibetan Buddhist monks continues. On December 16, the Intermediate People's Court sentenced Kanlho Sungrab Gyatso, a monk from the monastery of Mu-ra - in eastern Tibet – to three years in prison, reports the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). The group tells the man was charged in March for having led "peaceful protests".

Sungrab Gyatso was first arrested on March 17, 2008 in Machu County, but the monk was released a few days later. He was re-arrested on May 18 that same year, but again he was released soon after. The last arrest dates back to last March 25, 2010, again in Machu County in Kanlho, a "Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture" in the Chinese province of Gansu. The TCHRD activists say authorities accuse him of leading a student protest of a peaceful nature.

Sungrab Gyatso, 34, is native to the region of Mu-ra, where there is also the Buddhist monastery of which he is a member. He is editor of the Rewa-kang-lam (Walk of Hope, in Tibetan) and is also a member of the Bod-amae-rangke-larso-tsokpa, devoted to the recovery of the Tibetan language and other groups promoting the region’s traditional culture.

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