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His Holiness the Dalai Lama met Tibetans in Sweden last September
Photo: bbc

A Tibetan refugee has been charged with espionage by the Swedish authorities. Prosecutors have reported to the media that Dorjee Gyantsan, aged 49, was allegedly gathering information about Tibetan refugees and passing this on to the Chinese government in exchange for money. According to his lawyer, Mikael Soderberg, Gyanstan has denied all charges. He could face a four year prison sentence if found guilty.

Prosecutors allege that Gyantsan infiltrated the Tibetan community, posing as a pro-Tibetan supporter, while gathering information on Tibetan refugees’ personal and political activities. They claim the infiltration included attending anti-China protests in Norway and reporting on a visit there by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the Tibetan exile news website Voice of Tibet. However, Phayul, an English-medium Tibetan news outlet, reports that Voice of Tibet has said that Gyantsan has never been on their payroll. The State Prosecutor, Mats Ljungqvist, alleges that Gyantsan was in touch with Chinese officials in Poland and Finland and that the espionage took place between July 2015 and February 2017. This ended with Gyantsan’s arrest by the Swedish Intelligence Service. At that time he had returned from Warsaw carrying US$6,000 (£4,500) in cash, which, prosecutors believe, was payment for the delivery of the information.

The prosecution’s evidence includes reports from the Tibetan community and records of Gyantsan’s travel and phone activity. Tibetan community leader Jamyang Choedon said Gyantsan was known by the small Tibetan community in Sweden, around 140 people, which is “shocked and a little scared” by the case. She said they were thankful the Swedish authorities were taking up the case and hoped other countries would follow Sweden’s example.

Tsering Tsomo, Executive Director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights in Dharamshala, told The Guardian that Chinese consular officials will persuade Tibetan exiles to provide information on others by withholding visas from those who still have family in Tibet. Ms Tsomo went on to say that it is common knowledge in the Tibetan community that spies are planted among them.