Voice of Tibet: Former abbot of Ragya Monastery in Golog, Tibet, Danba Gyatso, sentenced to five years in prison for possessing an image of the Dalai Lama
[Voice of Tibet, October 19, 2026] Danba Gyatso, former abbot of Ragya Monastery in Golog, Tibet, was arrested by Chinese police in August this year， and subsequently sentenced to five years in prison， and is currently being held in a prison in Xining。 Police found photographs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the monastery’s head in his monastic quarters， as well as a USB drive containing quotations from His Holiness’s teachings， but the authorities have not announced the specific charges against him。
According to reports by the exile Tibetan media outlet Tibet Times, citing sources inside Tibet， on August 5， Chinese police in Maqin County， Golog， Tibet raided Ragya Monastery， arrested its former abbot Danba Gyatso（བསྟན་པ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་）， and sealed his monastic quarters， barring others from entering。
Sources said that when police searched Danba Gyatso’s monastic quarters， they found photographs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the monastery’s head, Kyabje Shingza Rinpoche（སྐྱབས་རྗེ་ཤིང་བཟའ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ）， as well as a USB drive containing quotations from His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings。
Danba Gyatso was subsequently detained in Golog。 On October 5， he was sentenced to five years in prison， and transferred to a prison in Xining。 It remains unclear whether he had legal representation during the trial， whether his family was notified， and on what charges the authorities sentenced him。
Sources also disclosed that during celebrations for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday in 2025， Danba Gyatso encouraged local herders to recite His Holiness’s long-life prayer， and gave rewards to those who could recite it。 He was reportedly detained by local police for several months as a result， before being released。
This is the second time he has been arrested by Chinese authorities this year。 Sources said that controls and restrictions in the area are currently very strict， and people generally dare not speak publicly about Danba Gyatso’s case。
Source
- Outlet
- 维权信息中心报告
- Original report
- https://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2026/10/blog-post_321.html
- Original publication
- Oct 19, 2026
- Retrieved
- Oct 19, 2026
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