An outspoken Chinese activist was struck and left paralyzed by an unknown assailant just after meeting with police to discuss an interview he gave on German television, a human-rights group said yesterday.
Last Thursday's attack on Fu Xiancai (
Fu, a critic of the government's compensation policy for people displaced by the massive Three Gorges dam project, was called in by police in his home county of Zigui and questioned him about the interview that aired on ARD on May 20, New York-based Human Rights in China said.
While walking home from the police station, Fu was struck from behind, and the blow broke his neck, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, the group said in statement. He has lost control of his bodily functions but is able to speak, it said.
A man who answered the telephone at the Zigui police department said he had heard of an incident involving Fu and that it was under investigation. He refused to give his name or answer any additional questions.
ARD's Beijing bureau declined to comment, saying that the station was preparing to release a statement about Fu and their efforts to help him.
The rights group said Fu is under 24-hour police surveillance while receiving treatment at the No. 1 People's Hospital in Yichang City.
The giant Three Gorges dam was designed to stop deadly floods that regularly ravage China's farming heartland.
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