Upon her return to Shanghai, one member of a group of 37 petitioners described how all the individuals in their group had been badly beaten because they attempted to visit the blind rights activist Chen Guangcheng this past Sunday. The whereabouts of one member of the group is unknown, while Chen remains the most obvious example of a “China-style” prisoner—one who is imprisoned although not in jail.
Ms. Zhu Jindi returned to Shanghai on Nov. 3. She said that on Oct. 30, 37 petitioners from all over China arrived at Menglianggu, Shandong Province, for sightseeing. They also planned to walk to Dongshigu village to visit Chen Guangcheng at his home.
However, on the way to Chen’s residence after lunch, 100 people suddenly appeared and began to beat them, Zhu said. The petitioners’ mobile phones and cameras were snatched and all of them were badly beaten.
Li Yu, a democracy activist from Sichuan Province, was severely beaten, Zhu said. Many people surrounded him and beat him until he lay flat on his back with his eyes rolled back in his head.
Not long after, Li, Dan Yajuan from Heilongjiang Province, and Liu Ping from Jiangxi Province were all shoved into a police car with no license plate. It was later rumored that they were locked up in a secret and unknown jail.
The local police later took Liu away and Dan was released on Nov. 2. But Li has disappeared and there is still no news of him. The petitioners have called upon the media and the public to keep an eye out for his safety.
According to Zhu, while hitting the petitioners, the leader arrogantly said that the state had given them money to torture Chen Guangcheng every day. The state also sent people to keep an eye out for visitors and to prevent anyone from visiting him.
Activists say that Chen would never betray his conscience. He was jailed for four years for defending the freedom and human dignity of others. From Sept. 9, 2010, when he was released until now, Chen and his family have been under house arrest, and have not even been allowed to be treated for illness.
The Chinese regime has in the last few years adopted the practice of using house arrest to keep human rights activists detained while not in jail—what is now called being a “China-style” prisoner.
Read the original Chinese article.
