Authorities have detained a monk for allegedly accessing banned media content and maintaining contact with exiled Tibetans,after student protests there prompted several firings.Plainclothes prefecture authorities and security officials took Tashi Gyatso, 36, into custody April 8 at around 4 a.m., before dawn prayers in Sarma monastery in Machu town. Authorities visited the monastery April 7 and warned the Sarma monks in a morning meeting to exercise caution and avoid "causing trouble.They said had learned that several monks from Sarma had been engaged in disturbing state and public security and had been involved in separatist activities, so from now on they would be held responsible and all should be very careful—or they would suffer consequences in the future.
The next morning, the monks saw two cars outside from the police and the security section, with several people inside. They came into his room and detained Tashi Gyatso, while most of the monks were sleeping,.
The authorities gave no reason for the detention, but Tashi Gyatso was cited for allegedly accessing and sharing banned Tibetan content on the Internet, speaking by phone with foreign contacts, and connecting a television in his room to watch foreign broadcasts.
The town where Sarma monastery is located, Machu, was the site of student protests in mid-March that led to the sacking of a middle-school headmaster, along with his assistants and the head of the county Public Security Bureau.