London: China has released Tibetan political prisoner Jigme Gyatso after 17 years in jail.
Tashi Phuntsok, spokesman for Tibet's government in exile, said Gyatso was freed a year before the end of his jail term, probably because of ill health.
Gyatso was jailed in 1996 on charges of separatism and endangering national security and is thought to be suffering from kidney problems, reports the BBC.
Human rights groups, which have been calling for the release of Gyatso, one of the region's well-known political prisoners, said he was tortured in prison.
Phuntsok said that the 52-year-old former monk returned to his home in Gansu province after his release from Chusul prison near Tibet's capital, Lhasa.
According to the US-backed Radio Free Asia (RFA) broadcaster, Gyatso appeared "very weak" after he was released.
Friends said he walked with a limp and was complaining of heart, vision and other problems related to poor nutrition and lack of medical care.
Reports of his release could not be immediately confirmed, as foreign media are banned from the region.
Gyatso was initially sentenced to 15 years, but got his prison term extended by three years in 2004 after he reportedly shouted slogans in support of the Dalai Lama in jail. |
