This is a translation of a news piece that was released today by Sina Entertainment at 16:04,  (Beijing time). It contains a number of important comments from someone who has spoken with Pema over the past 3 days as well as people who were at the scene when Pema was taken away by police.

(This translation is my own. While I have made every effort to remain faithful to the original text, I am not a professional translator. Please get in touch if you feel that any particular section needs attention or have any suggestions for improvement! All images are from the original news piece.)

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Witness Responds to Pema Tseden Incident

Sina Entertainment – June 29th: News has emerged and spread across social media that director Pema Tseden was forcefully detained by police at Xining Airport. After the incident, Sina Entertainment contacted Keke (a pseudonym), a person who recently visited Pema at the detention centre. Keke said “Apart from a few others who knew about this, we did not tell anyone else. We were worried that the incident between Pema and airport security would be blown out of proportion and distorted.” Currently, Xining police have yet to issue statement about this incident.

The Series of Events

On the evening of June 26th around 8pm Pema Tseden arrived from Beijing to Xining Caojiabao Airport. After exiting the building he discovered that he had forgotten his backpack at the baggage collection area. Following this, he approached a member of staff and informed them about the piece of luggage that he wished to collect. “The staff member asked Pema to leave. Pema Tseden then showed his plane ticket to the staff member to explain that the item was his, but the staff member’s attitude was that the ticket did not matter. Pema continued to speak with staff, but then the police were called.”

At this point, the two people who had originally come to the airport to pick Pema up arrived at the scene. At this stage, the members of staff had taken out Pema’s backpack. The people who had come to pick Pema up then said to the police “It’s fine, we’ll leave”, but at that stage the attitude of the police was that they had to arrest Pema.

“They pleaded with police over and over, but by then police had begun handcuffing Pema, and forcefully taking him away to a nearby police station. After this, Pema was interrogated until around 4 or 5am the next morning. They claimed Pema had disturbed public order. They tried to argue with him, but he was not persuaded by their reasoning. They then said that it is exactly people like him who they are after – people who understand reason but still refuse to listen”.

“There was no physical assault between Pema Tseden and the others, and he did not resist.” Keke added. “Those police officers who arrived did not ask any questions. Even ask the the bare minimum that they have should have asked, they didn’t. They just handcuffed Pema. They did not inform his relatives. Even now his relative still do not know what has happened.”

As events continued to unfold that night, one of the people who originally went to pick up Pema gave Keke a call. On June 27th Keke bought a quilt and mattress to the police station. In the detention centre he met with Pema for 2 or 3 minutes. “His handcuffs were worn very tightly and he had a number of wounds on his body”.

The Police told Keke that Pema Tseden had experienced some chest pain and headaches, and needed to see a doctor. Keke said “They said you yourselves should take him to see a doctor. What they meant was we relatives should pay the medical expenses. Whatever happens at the hospital is your responsibility. After he finishes with the doctors, he must return to complete his detention period. That’s what the airport police said. They were not willing to take any responsibility”.

The Director’s Current Situation

Keke revealed “Pema Tseden chest pains are causing him quite a bit of discomfort and he is feeling some chest tightness. Last night they measured his blood pressure. At it’s highest it was over 200, and at it’s lowest it was under 60. His diabetes has also left his two hands feeling numb. The soft tissue in his back and shoulders have also been injured. At night he cannot sleep well and with lying in some positions are very painful.”

It is understood that the police at Xining Airport have detained Pema Tseden for 5 days. It is unclear whether they have an official warrant for his detention. Currently Pema Tseden has been detained for 2 days. Once he has finished with doctors he will continue his period of detention for a further 3 days.

Keke said “Pema Tseden resides in Beijing. His trip to Xining this time was to promote a new film. To do so, he had invited a number of foreign guests to take part in events. He had also planned to take them to visit some scenic areas in Qinghai. This incident has caused much disruption to the scheduled events, which cannot now be carried out. These guests are still in Qinghai.”

Though the incident happened 3 days ago, the news has only just been posted on Weibo. In response to this Keke said “Apart from a few others who knew about this, we did not tell anyone else. We were worried that the incident between Pema and airport security would be blown out of proportion and distorted.” Even though the director does not wish the details to get out, in the end the news spread very quickly.

Pema Tseden is not aware that the story has spread across social media and he does not know that the media has been following the story. China Film Guild has also issued a statement in which they express their hopes that the incident will be dealt with justly and appropriately.

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亲历者回应万玛才旦事件经过

2016-06-29 16:04 新浪娱乐

摘要: 亲历者表示：除了几个人知道，我们一直没有往外说，就怕往大了去，性质给变了。目前，西宁警方尚未就此事做出回应。

新浪娱乐讯 6月29日，导演万玛才旦在西宁机场警方强制带离的事件经某微博博主曝光，随后迅速发酵。事件发生后，新浪娱乐联系到了曾前往拘留所看望万玛才旦的可可(化名)，他表示：“除了几个人知道，我们一直没有往外说，就怕本来是一个机场公安对他的一个事情，往大了去，性质给变了。”目前，西宁警方尚未就此事做出回应。

　　事件过程

　　6月26日晚上8点左右，万玛才旦从北京到达西宁曹家堡机场，出来后发现把双肩包忘在了取行李的地方，之后他找到工作人员，表示想取回背包，“工作人员的意思是你给我出去，于是万玛才旦老师把机票给工作人员看了下，说明是他的东西，但工作人员的态度是你有票了不起吗，万玛才旦就继续跟他们说，他们就找机场的派出所了。”

　　此时，前来为万玛才旦接机的两个人也上前劝了起来，过程中，工作人员把双肩包拿了出来，此时接机人对民警表示“没事了，我们走了”，而民警的态度则是必须拘捕万玛才旦。

　　“他们一直劝民警，但民警当时就用手铐把他铐了起来，强行地拉到了机场附近的派出所，之后一直审问到凌晨四五点。他们的意思是万玛才旦是扰乱公共秩序，与万玛才旦说道理，但没有说过万玛才旦，意思是你们这些懂道理、却不听话的人，我们针对的就是你们这种人。”

　　“万玛才旦没有与对方发生任何肢体上的冲突，也没有反抗。”可可补充道，“那些民警来了没有问任何问题，最起码你要说一下，他们没有问，直接就把手铐铐人了。而且没有通知家属，到现在家属都不知情。”

　　事件发生当晚，其中一位接机人打了个电话给可可。27号当天，可可带着被子和褥子前往派出所，在看守所值班室门口与万玛才旦见了两三分钟：“他的手铐铐得非常紧，身上很多伤。”

　　民警告诉可可一行人，万玛才旦出现了胸闷、头痛的情况，需要看病。可可回忆：“他们说，你们自己去看病，意思是你们家属自己掏钱，医院出的事情就是你们的事情，看完病之后，必须继续拘留。机场的意思是这样的，不会担任何责任。”

　　导演现状

　　可可透露：“万玛才旦的心脏非常不舒服，胸闷，昨晚测得血压，高压200多，低压是60以下，血糖也高了两只手的骨头一直是麻木的，大夫是他的背上和肩上的软组织受伤，他晚上都睡不好，靠的时候非常疼。”

　　据了解，西宁机场警方对万玛才旦执行行政拘留五天，有没有正式的拘留书尚不明确。目前万玛才旦已被拘留两天，看完病后将会继续呆在看守所三天。

　　可可表示：“万玛才旦定居北京，此次来到西宁，是为了推广一部新片。为此，他叫来了很多国外的客人，举办活动，还会顺便带他们去青海的景区看一下，这件事情导致后面的事情也做不成了，这些客人还在青海。”

　　事件发生三天，才有博主在微博上曝光，对此，可可表示：“除了几个人知道以外，一直没有往外说，就怕本来是一个机场公安对他的一个事情，往大了去，性质给变了。”尽管导演方并不希望事情传出去，但消息终究是不胫而走了。

　　而万玛才旦本人，对于事件在社交网络上的发酵并不知情，也不知道已经引起了媒体的关注，中国导演协会也就此发表了声明，希望事件得到公正和妥善的解决。（鲁雪婷/文）