Lu Siwei arrested for so-called “false travel documents,” his wife responds

Transcript

Hello, everyone, this is Zhang Chunxiao. For the last two weeks, the operation to rescue Lu Siwei has not stopped for a moment. I would like to thank the United Nations, the United States, and various governments, civic organizations, and individuals for their active efforts for Siwei’s freedom and the reunion of his family. I would also like to thank the Laotian diplomat for publicly accounting to the world for Siwei’s whereabouts and his condition, to which I would like to make the following points in response:

1. Lu Siwei’s Chinese passport, as well as his Laos and U.S. visas, are all legal. It is illegal for the Chinese government to revoke his law license and prohibit him from leaving the country simply because he practiced China’s lawyers’ law and international human rights treaties to defend the group of 12 persecuted Hong Kong citizens. And it is legal, reasonable, and sensible for him to flee from China to reunite with me and my daughter in the United States.

2. Paragraph 3 of Article 10 of the Law on Extradition of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic stipulates that the Lao People’s Democratic Republic shall refuse the extradition of an offender when it considers that the extradition of the offender may not be justified on humanitarian grounds on the grounds of race, nationality, religion, tribe, sex, social status, or economic situation and that the wanted person may be subjected to torture or inhuman treatment. If Lu Siwei is forcibly deported or extradited back to China, all the evidence fully indicates that the CCP will definitely impose inhumane measures such as imprisonment and torture on him because he belongs to a rights defense group, his social status, and political opinion, as well as his forced flight on this occasion.

3. If Laos is going to investigate and try Lu Siwei’s so-called “allegations of allegedly crossing the border with false travel documents,” this trial must be open in its entirety, and lawyers must be allowed to represent him fairly without interference from the government’s threats, as well as to allow the United Nations and diplomats from the United States and other countries concerned about Lu Siwei’s case, as well as the international media, to sit in on the trial and report on it openly.

In conclusion, I call on the Lao government to abide by its own laws and international law and to release Lu Siwei, and I call on governments and international organizations as well as people of justice and conscience to continue to help and work for Siwei’s freedom.

Thank you all again! May God continue to bless all of you.

Response from Bob Fu

Bob Fu, the founder and president of ChinaAid, commented on the recent events regarding Lu Siwei. “We have verified from the very beginning that human rights lawyer Lu Siwei holds valid Chinese passports with valid visas issued both by the Lao and USA governments,” Fu said. “He was punished by the CCP government with an unjustifiable exit ban, simply for his legal defense work representing persecuted Hongkongers. We urge the Lao government to release Lu Siwei based on humanitarianism, Laos’ own laws, as well as its legal obligation to the international community so that Lu Siwei can reunite with his wife and 14-year-old daughter in the United States.”

In order to protect the global legal community, ChinaAid strongly opposes the repatriation of Lu Siwei back to China. Should he be sent back, he will be subject to torture and inhumane imprisonment.