Human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong has been forced to take a mysterious medication while imprisoned in a Chinese jail, according to his wife, Jin Bianling, in an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Jiang was arrested in November 2016. Prosecutors charged him with “attempting to overthrow the socialist system“ and ”seriously harming state security and social stability” after Jiang set up an awareness campaign supporting lawyers and activists who were arrested in a nationwide operation in July 2015.
In a June 27 interview with RFA, Jin said prison guards are forcing Jiang to take unidentified medication twice daily, and his memory has deteriorated as a result.Amnesty International China researcher Patrick Poon also told RFA that other lawyers detained since the July 2015 operation have reported being force-fed medication.
Jin said she has made a request with the Henan Province No. 2 Prison, where Jiang is detained, to provide her with the name and dosage of the medication.
Jiang’s father, Jiang Lianghou, told RFA that when he visited his son in prison, he was sitting on a metal chair fixed to the floor with manacles attached. “His legs were red and swollen,” the elder Jiang said, leading him to believe his son was forced to sit in the chair for long periods of time, a common form of torture.