RFA: Tibetan Monk Shot Dead in Qinghai, Officials Appeal for Calm

October 1, 2004

Radio Free Asia reports on October 1 that a police officer named He shot dead the abbot of Topden Monastery, located in Dari County (Darlag) in Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Golog), Qinghai Province. The abbot, Shetse, had accompanied several other monks from the monastery to the county police station to seek compensation for medical expenses incurred after the monks had been detained, beaten, and released. According to RFA’s sources, “Police reinforcements have arrived from neighboring townships, and Tibetan civic and religious leaders have appealed for calm. They also asked local people to cancel or postpone planned protests.” The story does not provide detail on why the monks had been detained. Topden Monastery, according to the report, is located in Maqin County (Machen) near the county line with Dari.