(Hunan province) Xie Yang, a human rights lawyer, has been illegally detained by the Chinese regime for a year. The authorities accused Xie Yang of “inciting subversion of state power.” He met with his lawyer recently for the first time in ten months. Sources familiar with the matter disclosed that Xie Yang’s trial is scheduled for June 19th.
In the beginning, the police held Xie in secret detention and tortured him. They prohibited him from contacting his lawyer. Investigator Huang Weijia beat the human rights lawyer several times.
Anonymous detention
According to Xie Yang, he was arrested on January 11, 2022. Authorities moved him to a detention center the next day anonymously. When he first arrived, his real name was not written in the system. Instead, prison staff recorded him as “a certain Xie.” He was unable to contact a lawyer and was detained in secret until January 2023, when the detention center finally entered his full name into the system.
Prison conditions
Xie reported that he was held in a cell with 20 convicted prisoners. The Changsha special police guarded the inmates, ensuring that none of them would speak to Xie. They effectively isolated him. He had money to purchase anything, and the conditions were extremely harsh. By January 25th, a total of 13 days, the investigator interrogated him five times. He was beaten on three separate occasions.
Torture and illegal interrogation
Jiang Hongzhou, the warden of the detention center, heard Xie’s screams and asked the investigator to continue elsewhere. Prison staff converted the cell next door into an interrogation room. Xie disagreed and said that it was not a lawfully designated interrogation room, but the authorities ignored him. Correctional officer Liang Jie used various ways to torture him, including not allowing him to take goods, giving him poor meals, and not allowing other prisoners to give him food. Xie Yang remained silent throughout the interrogations and torture.
Transferred
Later, he was transferred to another cell, where authorities wanted him to plead guilty and accept punishment. After his transfer in June 2022, there were some changes to his situation. Guards let him talk with others, but they would not let him speak with a lawyer. Xie Yang had to kick and protest inside his cell which resulted in further abuse. They put him in “monkey chains,” a torture device shaped like an “I” which does not allow the person to stand up straight after their hands and feet had been cuffed to the back.
Most recent transfer
The prison transferred Xie one last time in March 2023 where they treated him normally. He said he never participated in the meditation sessions in his cell. Instead, Xie exercised on his own, and correctional officers no longer cared about him or his case.
His gratitude
Xie Yang expressed his gratitude to his friends for their concern. During the conversation with his lawyer, he choked up several times. He hoped that another lawyer would step in as soon as possible.
The official indictment
According to the indictment, Xie was prosecuted for using overseas social media platforms, accepting interviews with foreign media such as Voice of America and Deutsche Welle, and spreading speeches that “subvert state power.”
Background
Xie Yang is 51 years old this year and a native of Changsha, Hunan province. He started practicing law in 2011. Police last arrested him on July 9, 2015, during the 709 crackdown and charged him with “inciting subversion of state power and disrupting court order.” In December 2017, Xie Yang was convicted of “inciting subversion” and exempted from criminal punishment.
His full letter
Below is the full text of a letter from lawyer Xie Yang to his parents, dated May 18. Some formatting and punctuation revisions were made:
Dad and Mom:
I don’t know if you still will have the ability to ask and read this letter when it arrives!
The most difficult time for me has passed, and everything is fine now. My main task every day is to exercise my body, and the physical examination in the prison shows that I am in great shape, with better blood pressure, heart rate, and other physiological index values than an average young person!
Thinking back, parents sent their son to school so that the son could one day serve and pay back to their motherland. Now I am using my way to serve my country and all Chinese people. I wonder if you can understand this kind of method? In times of war, [parents] send children to the battlefield to create a peaceful society. In peaceful times, [parents] send children to prison to create a society governed by law; both are equally important. Without the rule of law, peace will be lost. For the sake of the country, I cannot be filial; I hope Mom and Dad will understand. As the old saying goes: It is difficult to be loyal to the country and be filial piety to the parents, now I finally truly understand [this saying].
Yajuan and Yuchen are in the United States; their mother will take good care of them; you should rest assured. Besides, in America, I still have a group of friends. If they have any difficulty, friends will help, and they will be fine.
My sentence this time is about five years, and I am fully mentally prepared. I hope that my parents will also be mentally prepared. [Your] son knows that to have dreams is to have pain. [Your] son has no regrets, and I am relieved to have my brother and sister-in-law and my sisters at home to take care of the family. I will give up my appeal to meet with you all as soon as possible. To be in prison quickly so that I can see you all as soon as possible, the appeal would not have had any practical significance.
The case will be held in court shortly. To restrict information about me, [the government] chooses not to have an open court hearing.
In this way, the families will not be able to sit in on the proceedings. But please believe that I will prevail over them in legal principle. Justice may not have prevailed at this moment; let’s try our best to create it! I believe that in the future, you will both be proud of your son!
~Gao Zhensai Special Correspondent of ChinaAid
