A Tibetan origin man who has been arrested on charge of spying for China in Sweden and nearby European states has been convicted by a Swedish court on Friday. Case against the Tibetan man shocked the Tibetan exile community and the convict has now been handed 22 month prison term by the court.
Dorjee Gyantsan, 49 was arrested on February 26 last year on suspicion of “espionage against refugees in Sweden,” though later released has now been charged with “serious unlawful intelligence activities against several individuals” in the country according to the Swedish Security Service statement has been tried for up to four years in prison.
“A Tibetan resident of Sweden was convicted by a Swedish court on Friday of spying for China and was handed a 22-month prison term, bringing to a close a case highlighting Beijing’s penetration of ethnic exile communities around the world. Dorjee Gyantsan, 49, was found guilty by the Soderton District Court near Stockholm of collecting information on the identities, political views, and travel of fellow Tibetans living in Sweden.” said the report in Radio Free Asia last week.
Tibetan man as close member of the refugee community had contacts with Chinese officials in Poland and Finland leading to an alleged payment of 50,000 krona (U.S. $5,945) on one occasion that lead to his arrest last year. However, the man denies these charges saying that he neither passed any information to the Chinese nor received any payment from them.
The Swedish prosecutor have taken the issue very seriously as the man was deeply embedded in the Tibetan community; initially acquiring resident status as a refugee in Sweden had also covered a visit of the Dalai Lama to Norway as a reporter for the pro-Tibetan Voice of Tibet as well as participated in Tibetan anti-China protests in Norway, according to the report. The prosecutor believes the spy could have caused or still cause a large number of people serious harm.
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