Gyaltsen Thokmey, born in 1969, was a monk at Sera Monastery when he was arrested in 1996. That year, approximately 160 Chinese officials were deployed to the monastery to conduct two months of compulsory “patriotic re-education.” During this campaign, monks were ordered to remove all images of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Gyaltsen Thokmey openly resisted these directives by organizing a temporary closure of the monastery and suspending daily prayers for three days. On 27 September 1996, he was arrested while attempting to post a notice calling for the monastery’s closure. He was first detained at Seitru Detention Centre for two months and then transferred to Gutsa Detention Centre to await trial.

In early 1997, he was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment and transferred to Drapchi Prison. His arrest and imprisonment were directly linked to his peaceful opposition to forced ideological control and secularization imposed on Tibetan monastic institutions.