Patrick Leahy: “it was 4 years ago that Nagwang Choephel, a Tibetan who studied ethnomusicology at Middlebury College in Vermont on a…”

“it was 4 years ago that Nagwang Choephel, a Tibetan who studied ethnomusicology at Middlebury College in Vermont on a Fulbright Scholarship, was arrested in Tibet in 1995. After imprisoning him incommunicado for 15 months, on December 26, 1996, Chinese officials sentenced Mr. Choephel to 18 years in prison on charges of espionage. Four years have passed and despite high level discussions about this case between the administration and Chinese officials, resolutions passed in both the Senate and the House on Mr. Choephel's behalf, and a number of worldwide letter writing campaigns, he remains incarcerated in a remote corner of Tibet for a crime he did not commit. The Chinese Government has never provided evidence to support their allegations that Mr. Choephel was sent by the Dalai Lama to gather intelligence and engage in separatist activities. The State Department has no evidence that he participated in any illegal or political activity. What is indisputable, however, is that Mr. Choephel traveled to Tibet with a donated video camera and recording equipment to document Tibetan music and dance--subjects he studied as a young man in India and as a Fulbright Scholar in Vermont. The sixteen hours of footage that Mr. Choephel sent out of Tibet before his arrest affirm this fact. It simply shows the traditional dancing and singing that is an integral part of Tibet's rich cultural heritage. I have spoken out many times about this tragic miscarriage of justice.”