Tibetan Review
October 15, 2010

On a plea by his visiting wife, members of a
Tibet Support Group in the German Parliament have
on Oct 8 called on China to release Dhondup
Wangchen, a Tibetan whom it had jailed in Xining
city for six years in Dec’09 for filming
interviews with a cross section of Tibetans in
Qinghai Province about their life under Chinese
rule. His film was smuggled out of Tibet in
Mar’08, just days before his arrest, and made
into a documentary titled ‘Leaving Fear Behind’
ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

A statement making the call was issued by the
Interparty Group on Tibet in the German
parliament and read by the Liberal MP Harald
Leibrecht. He said, “Dhondup Wangchen must be
released. He is in prison, simply because he
peacefully expressed his opinion. Freedom of
speech and openness are crucial for a democratic
development in China, as for a peaceful solution to the issue of Tibet.”

Lhamo Tso, who toured Europe from Oct 5 to 10 to
seek help and support for her husband’s release,
has expressed grave concern about Dhondup’s
health, saying he was suffering from hepatitis.

Lhamo met with Markus Löning, German Federal
Human Rights Commissioner, who leads the German
human rights dialogue with China. She also met
with the members of the German parliament’s Human
Rights Committee. Her trip to Europe was
organised by the Tibet Initiative Deutschland
(TID) and the International Campaign for Tibet
Germany (ICT). She attended a TID-organised
public screening of “Leaving Fear Behind” in
downtown Berlin and a vigil organised by ICT in
front of the Chinese embassy in the city to
highlight the situation of political prisoners in Tibet.