lørdag 22. mai 2021

Chinese Rights Lawyer Still Under House Arrest on 50th Birthday

Authorities in the central Chinese province of Henan are continuing to hold prominent human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong under house arrest at his home in Luoyang city, RFA has learned. Jiang, who recently passed his 50th birthday under close surveillance by state security police, was "released" from prison in February 2019 at the end of a two-year jail term for "incitement to subvert state power," a charge often used to imprison peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was allowed to return to his parents' home in Luoyang, but remains under close surveillance and heavy restrictions.

Jiang's U.S.-based wife Jin Bianling has repeatedly expressed concern for her husband's health after he was tortured by cellmates during his time in detention. Henan-based rights activist Xing Wangli visited Jiang in Luoyang on April 20, but was subsequently detained by police in Beijing, Xing's New Zealand-based son Xing Jian told RFA. "My father went to visit Lawyer Jiang on April 20," Xing Jian said. "On April 23, the director and deputy director of the Huaihe police station got my parents to come to the neighborhood committee offices on a pretext, and warned him off visiting Jiang. They said that if he didn't behave properly in future, he would be punished."