ChinaAid
Wu Gejianxiong ( left ) , Cheng Yuan and Liu Yongze ( right )
( photograph from Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch )
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(Hunan, August 29, 2019) The families of three arrested NGO staff members continue to struggle to gather information about the charges.
According to information received by ChinaAid, Wuge Jianxiong, Cheng Yuan, and Liu Yongze were detained in late July by the Changsha State Security Bureau.
The trio, who work for the public welfare organization Changsha Funeng, were accused of subversion.
Officials authorized their arrest on Aug. 26.
So far, family members of the NGO workers have struggled to gather information about the purported subversion charge and arrest.
Cheng’s wife, Shi Minglei, and brother, Cheng Hao, were unsuccessful in gathering information about the arrest after traveling to visit officials in Changsha. Family members were told a few days ago by lawyer Pang Kun that no legal documents were available concerning the arrest.
“There must be some evidence,” Cheng Hao says. “I just want the police officer in charge … to answer our queries, what the reason is for [Cheng’s] arrest.”
Fears are that Cheng Yuan would face cruel treatment after being detained, especially since Shi has been under surveillance for weeks by authorities.
The father of Wuge, Lawyer Wu, told a similar story, explaining how several applications to meet with his son were rejected without any reason. Wuge’s father believes his son received a subversion charge due to work defending the rights of vulnerable groups.
“Now, I don’t know anything about (the detention circumstances), and they will not reveal it, anyway, because he is a political prisoner, and the restriction on political prisoners is more stringent than that on other criminal cases,” Lawyer Wu says.
According to the China Political Prisoners Concern Network, Wuge has worked in the field of public welfare rights protection, while Cheng has been engaged for years in activity related to family planning and anti-Hepatitis B discrimination.
ChinaAid Media Team
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