Exiled Tibetans in Dharamsala demand release of detained Runggye Adak

Exiled Tibetans based in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, have protested against the continued detention of Runggye Adak, by Chinese authorities in Tibet.

Runggye Adak is a Tibetan man who was arrested and charged with state subversion against the People's Republic of China after making a series of public political statements at a festival in eastern Tibet, on August 1, 2007.

Adak is regarded as a respected local figure and is a father of eleven children. He is a native of Yonru Kharshul, a village near Lithang in the predominantly Tibetan region of Kham.

In 2007, he seized a microphone during a speech at a horse-racing festival in Lithang, and proceeded to call for the return of the Dalai Lama and the release of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the present Dalai Lama's candidate for Panchen Lama, and of Tenzin Delek, a lama from Lithang who was sentenced to life in prison for alleged involvement in terrorism, and the independence of Tibet.

The Chinese authorities in charge of the area arrested him thereafter.

In Dharamsala, exiled Tibetans demanded that Adak be released immediately, as his health was failing.

They said that Adak's protest seven years ago had shown the courage of the Tibetans to use the opportunity of community gatherings to expose the atrocities of the Chinese Government and the falsehood of them being happy under Chinese rule.

People have been asked to sign an online petition on the website "www.freetibetianheros.org" to be sent to the head of the prison in which Adak is being held right now.

A signature campaign was held on Friday to allow supporters of the "Free Runggye Adak campaign" to sign and express there protest.