A Tibetan Buddhist lama, Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, was sentenced to 8 years in the Laogai on December 23, 2009, on charges of "illegal possession of ammunition and embezzlement." According to his lawyer, Jiang Tianyong, he denies all charges.

Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, who lived and preached in the Tibetan region of Sichuan Province known as Garze, was first arrested in May 2008 following the unrest in Tibet and surrounding areas that took place in March of that year. At the time of his arrest, human rights groups alleged that Chinese police had planted ammunition at Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche's home. He was tried and charged in April of 2009, but his sentence was not announced until December 23, 2009.