The wife of the jailed Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang has described her husband as a “totally changed man” after she and her son were allowed to see him for the first time since he disappeared nearly four years ago. Wang, 43, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in January for “subverting state power” after a closed-door trial.
The prominent lawyer, who defended political activists and victims of land seizures, vanished in a sweep aimed at courtroom critics of Communist authorities known as the “709” clampdown because the arrests started on 9 July 2015. Wang was held incommunicado for more than 1,000 days without access to his family or a lawyer prior to his trial and authorities have repeatedly denied requests by his wife, Li Wenzu, to visit him in jail.
