Chinese dissident arrested for subversion

Reuters


BEIJING, Aug. 6 — A Chinese dissident missing since April has been arrested on charges of attempting to subvert the state and hospitalised after being beaten up by fellow detainees, his mother and a fellow activist said on Wednesday.

The case of Yan Jun, a 30-year-old high school biology teacher, is the latest in a string of arrests, indictments and convictions that critics say cast doubt on the government's pledge to push for rule of law.

The national security bureau in the northwestern city of Xi'an, home to the world famous terracotta warriors, asked prosecutors in July to charge Yan with posting anti-government essays on the Internet, his mother, Dai Yuzhen, said.

Yan was hospitalised in July after being beaten up by other detainees, said Dai and a fellow dissident who asked not to be identified.

''He has been attached to an intravenous drip for half a month. I'm a doctor and I know his injury is serious. I'm really worried for his health,'' Dai, a 57-year-old retired obstetrician, told Reuters.

Yan's lawyer has been denied access to official documents on the case, she said. ''We have nobody to ask. Nobody will talk to us,'' Dai said by telephone.

A court spokesman, contacted by telephone, said he had no information on the case.

On Monday, the Xi'an Intermediate People's Court jailed dissident Zhao Changqing for five years for subversion for writing China's communist leaders demanding democracy.

Also on Monday, a Beijing court held a three-hour closed-door trial for Yang Jianli, a U.S.-based Chinese scholar, on charges of spying for Taiwan and illegal entry in a case that has drawn international criticism of China's legal system.

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Source: "Reuters".