China: Human rights lawyer and Chinese citizen controlled by SWAT team members
Event- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 26, 2019
- Event Description
(Hengyang, Hunan—Sept. 25, 2019) Authorities controlled human rights lawyer Xie Yang and a Chinese citizen, Chen Yanhui, this evening when they were discussing the Sept. 23 death of Wang Meiyu, a prisoner who died in the Hengyang Detention Center.
In the middle of Xie and Chen’s conversation at the Shennong Hotel in Hengyang, Hunan, six armed SWAT team members rushed in and contained them. Plainclothes police and hotel employees watched the room’s doorway, while the SWAT team members handled the staircase.
Xie’s wife, Chen Guiqiu, noted on social media that he was still being controlled as of 1:16 a.m. on Sept. 26 Beijing time. Her attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful, leading her to believe he is still being restricted by the officials.
Xie was previously taken into police custody for his human rights work on July 11, 2015, as part of a nationwide crackdown on rights attorneys known colloquially as the "709 Incident." During Xie's time in prison, he revealed that he had been tortured and that the lawyers appointed by his family were prevented from meeting him numerous times. To combat these accusations, China launched a propaganda campaign, claiming the reports were false. They also forced Xie Yang to deny his torture allegations during his trial.
Prior to his trial, Xie made a written declaration stating that he was not guilty of subversion, the charge which authorities used to imprison him, and said he would not plead guilty unless it was for the sake of his family or because of torture.
Xie was ultimately ruled "exempt from criminal penalty," a decision that means Xie should be legally free but also that the court had convicted him. He continues to be constantly monitored by the authorities.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- Offline
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 26.92536459652211
Longitude: 112.60481364999413
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 26 September 2019, Kieu Dinh Lieuhuman rights lawyer, was put under surveillance and prevented to leave the hotel in Hengyang, China, where he was discusing with a friend about the death in prison of a Chinese activist occurred few days before.