New Delhi, Dec 20,2022:  Chinese authorities have sentenced a Tibetan monk to three years in prison after his participation in a campaign that discouraged local residents from killing and selling animals, according to a media report.

Monlam Gyatso, a Tibetan monk, writer and teacher from Raktam village in Qinghai province’s Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, had been held for more than a year in an undisclosed location before his sentencing in October earlier this year, sources said, RFA reported.

One source inside Tibet, speaking to RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said Monlam Gyatso was “arrested on June 9, 2021 by the Chinese government. His whereabouts continue to remain unknown”.

“In October 2022, he was sentenced to three years in prison but we still don’t know the exact date. Despite [learning of] his sentencing, it still remains unclear where he is being held and in what condition,” the source added, RFA reported.

A strict information lockdown by authorities in the region makes it difficult to confirm developments in cases like Gyatso’s for weeks or even months after they occur.

Another Tibetan source, speaking to RFA from exile, said that authorities sentenced Gyatso for allegedly supporting the “10-point regulation campaign” started by a monk in Kardze’s Larung Ghar Monastery “to discourage people from killing and selling animals”.

Chinese authorities have reportedly cracked down on the campaign, and the source said that the Chinese government has accused its supporters of “disrupting the ecosystem and livelihoods of the residents”, RFA reported.