Police Drop Charges Against Tibetan Protesters – Belongings Returned
London, 29 October 2015
For Immediate Release
The Tibetan Community in Britain is pleased to learn that all charges against the two Tibetans who protested at President Xi Jinping’s state visit last week have been dropped.
The Tibetan protesters, Sonam and Jamphel, were informed yesterday, 28 October 2015 that the charges against them of “breaching the peace” and “suspicion of conspiracy to commit threatening behaviour” were dropped. Today at 6pm, police came to their homes and returned their confiscated mobile phones, laptops and USB sticks to them.
“Although Sonam and Jamphel are no longer facing charges from the police, it is unacceptable that they were put through this horrendous experience simply for waving the Tibetan flag. They were in police custody for 24 hours and had their homes searched and belongings confiscated. That’s why we will be filing an official complaint with the Independent Police Complaints Commission and will be calling for a full investigation into this case,” said Tsering Passang, Chairman of Tibetan Community in Britain.
Fabian Hamilton, Labour MP for Leeds North East, raised the treatment of the protesters in an Urgent Question in the House of Commons on Monday and told the The Independent [1] newspaper yesterday: “I’m absolutely delighted by this outcome. There were no charges to answer. They were protesting peacefully, legally, without any trouble. The idea that this was a conspiracy to breach the peace would not have stood up in court.”
Sonam and Jamphel in a joint statement said, “We’re extremely grateful to all those who showed their concern and support for us this past week. It’s a relief that the charges have been dropped but we still maintain that we did nothing wrong. We will continue to protest for Tibet and to do whatever we can to highlight the plight of our fellow Tibetans inside Tibet.”
[1] Police drop charges against Tiananmen Square survivor who protested during President Xi Jinping’s visit:
http://www.independent.co.uk/