Tagyal who writes under penname “Shogdung” was arrested on April 23 this year in Xining on charges of “instigating to split the motherland” – a very common allegation faced by Tibetans for expression of anti government sentiments through writings or protests.

Tagyal was picked up from his workplace Qinghai Nationalities Publishing House in Xining and taken to his house which the police searched and confiscated 2 computers.

Talking to the Voice of Tibet radio over the phone, Woser said Tagyal’s lawyer Li Fanping had informed her of the bailout. “I was told by his lawyer that he (Tagyal) is in good health with his family now,” Woser said.

Reason – international media?
The Beijing based Tibetan writer and blogger said she does not know the exact reasons why Tagyal was released on bail after 6 months but agreed that the popularity of Tagyal’s case in the international media might have been one of the factors.

Meanwhile, Jampal Monlam of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said the “bail pending trial” does not give him immunity to future arrest. Jampal told the VOT that the longest period that “bail pending trial” can last is a year.

However, the exact period of Tagyal’s “bail pending trial” is not known. Monlam said that under the Chinese law the police can either arrest him again or give him the document of release at the end of his “bail pending trial” depending on the findings of the investigation during the bail period.

According to the news website phayul.com in April that Tagyal’s detention might be linked to an open letter of condolence to the victims of Kyegudo Earthquake that he signed along with other Tibetan intellectuals in Xining. The letter openly criticized the Chinese government’s handling of the earthquake relief efforts. Other signatories of this open letter include well-known Tibetan writer and singer Jamyang Kyi and other members of the group known as the “New School of Thought.”

Shogdung has authored several books including the recent publication gnam sa go ‘byed (Opening of Earth and Sky) about the nationwide protests against the Chinese government in 2008.

Three days after the earthquake in Kyegudo (Yushu), Shogdung had wanted to travel to Yushu (Kyegudo) to help in the rescue and relief works but was denied permission.

Until his arrest, he was helping the relief efforts in Xining and offering comfort and solace to survivors who had been moved to hospitals in Xining.

Two students jailed
While writer “Shogdung” was released, Chinese authorities in the remote western province of Gansu have sentenced two Tibetan students to two-year jail terms in connection with protests at a local middle school, an exiled Tibetan source said.

"Thubten Nyima is 17 years old this year, and he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment," said Dolkar Kyab, an exiled Tibetan from Gansu’s Kanlho (in Chinese, Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture now living in northern India.

"Tsering Dhondup is 17, and he was sentenced to two years in jail," he added.

He said the youths were sentenced on 12 September by the Gannan Municipal Intermediate People’s Court and transferred to a prison in Gansu’s Tianshui city on 12 October.

Neither of the two had been assisted by lawyers, Dolkar Kyab said.

"Because they came from a nomadic background, they did not know how to arrange for legal help, and out of fear of reprisal, they didn’t dare try."

Both students were detained in March and accused of leading protests by some 30 students from the Machu (in Chinese, Maqu) county Tibetan Middle School on the second anniversary of Tibetan unrest sparked by clashes in Lhasa on March 14, 2008.

Local sources said at the time that at least 40 people were detained following the protests in Machu.

Authorities fired the school’s headmaster in the ensuing crackdown. Two Tibetan assistants were also dismissed from their jobs.

The students then staged a hunger strike on campus to call for the reinstatement of school staff.

Official response
An official who answered the phone at the Kanlho county education bureau denied the sentencing had taken place.

"No, no it didn’t," said the official. "Where are you calling from?"

A Tibetan official who answered the phone at the county religious affairs department said he was unfamiliar with the case. "I don’t know about this," he said. "It wouldn’t come through our department."

Calls to the Machu Tibetan Middle School went unanswered during working hours on 14 November.

Dolkar Kyab said two other students, Ngawang Lhamo from Machu’s Maza village, and Rabten Dorje from Mama village, were also expelled from school for criticizing the government’s patriotic re-education campaign in April this year.

"The police said that no other schools would be allowed to accept them once they had been expelled by their school," he added.

School unrest
Dozens of students at the Tibetan Middle School staged a protest on 14 March on the second anniversary of a region-wide uprising against Chinese rule in Tibetan-populated areas of western the People´s Republic of China.

The students were joined by 500 to 600 other Tibetans, according to local residents, protesting their lack of freedom and calling for Tibetan independence.

Following the protest, the school’s headmaster, Kyabchen Dedrol, and two assistants – Do Re and Choekyong Tseten – were dismissed from their jobs, sources said.

Local authorities also fired Sonam Tse, head of the Kanlho Public Security Office. Classes at the school were suspended for a month, with students instead subjected to courses of "political re-education."

On 16 March students at a second school, Kanlho Tibetan Middle School No. 3, also protested, but were stopped from leaving school grounds by school security officials and teachers.

Police surrounded the students and forced them back into the school compound, according to a resident, who added that 20 students were detained and later released after being interrogated.

Security has been tight inside Tibetan regions of the People´s Republic of China since a peaceful protest in March 2008 prompted a crackdown and ignited a region-wide uprising.

HRH Oslo, based on news website www.phayul.com information and Radio Free Asia (RFA) article (Reported by Qiao Long for RFA’s Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie).

Related links:

Tibetan writer Tagyal detained after criticizing earthquake relief efforts

Leader of student protest in Machu sentenced to 2 years

Four Tibetan student magazine editors arrested, two of them sentenced