Seventy-four year old Jigme Sangpo (Tanak is a family name) was released from Drapchi prison in Lhasa on medical parole on 31 March.

Jigme Zangpo’s release follows the release of five other Tibetan political prisoners, whose cases were also raised by international governments and non-governmental organisations, before the end of their sentences this year.

The Tibetan music scholar Ngawang Choephel was released after serving six years of an 18-year sentence for espionage in January, and in the past few months four Tibetan nuns were also released.

Jigme Sangpo, who is from Chusur (Chinese: Chushui) in the Lhasa area, is a former primary school teacher. He was first arrested for political activities in the 1960s and has spent most of the past 40 years in prison. He was well-known and widely respected by other political prisoners, for his determination and dedication to the cause of an independent Tibet. There had been serious concerns for his health in prison for several years.

Jigme Sangpo’s release eight years before the end of his sentence follows several years of intense campaigning by non-governmental organisations worldwide and pressure from Western governments, notably the US and Swiss. It is unprecedented for China to release such a long-serving Tibetan political prisoner and to allow them to travel to a Western country.

On 17 June, John Kamm, Executive Director of the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation, who was involved in negotiations for the release, was allowed to meet Jigme Sangpo in Lhasa during an official visit to Tibet’s capital. Kamm reported that under the terms of medical parole, Jigme Sangpo had not been permitted to leave the family residence apart from visits to hospital under the escort of Public Security Bureau personnel. He was clearly fearful of being returned to prison. During the visit Jigme Sangpo, who suffers from high blood pressure, heart disease, and trembling in his hands and feet, told Kamm that he would like to seek medical treatment in the US.

Jigme Sangpo was met at O’Hare Airport in Chicago by a family member and soon after spoke by phone to Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, cabinet head of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, and Lodi Gyari, Special Envoy of the Dalai Lama.

Samdhong Rinpoche, who is attending a conference of Tibetan-Americans in Minneapolis, expressed his personal greetings to Jigme Sangpo and urged him to take sufficient rest. Lodi Gyari welcomed him to freedom on behalf of the Dalai Lama, who he had previously informed.

Australia Tibet Council welcomes Jigme Sangpo’s release as an indication of Beijing’s sensitivity to sustained government and NGO advocacy for the release of Tibetans held for “counter-revolutionary” and other political charges. ATC President, Alex Butler said “We are delighted that Jigme Sangpo has finally regained his freedom, but our happiness is tempered with regret for all those who continue to suffer injustices and the denial of basic freedoms in Tibet, and certainly those who remain imprisoned for their political and religious beliefs.”