The wife of a jailed Chinese activist is in hospital with bruises and "extreme mental distress" after being assaulted by police, a relative said yesterday.
Yuan Weijing (
Police had dumped Yuan on a street outside the city later that day where she was found crying and dazed, he told reporters.
She has bruises to her chest and has not spoken for days, he said, adding that doctors said she was suffering from "extreme mental distress" as a result of the incident.
"She was found Tuesday night by a villager. She was sitting by the side of the road crying and couldn't speak," he said.
The relatives and lawyers representing Chen Guangcheng, who is known for exposing abuses of China's one-child policy, have complained of an escalating campaign of intimidation and harassment by local officials and police as his case has worked its way through the courts in Shandong's Yinan County.
They say potential witnesses have been beaten and evidence suppressed in Chen Guangcheng's August trial and his retrial last Monday by the county court on charges of inciting the public.
The charges stemmed from a public protest by his supporters.
However, human rights groups have said that authorities trumped up those charges to silence Chen Guangcheng after he accused Linyi officials of forcing women to be sterilized and have abortions as late as eight months into their pregnancies.
Chen Guangcheng, who has been held for over a year, was sentenced to more than four years in jail on Friday following the retrial.
Chen Guangfu said Yuan was picked up by police seeking "revenge" for her attempts to introduce evidence in the retrial that purportedly exonerates Chen Guangcheng of the charges.
"I went with one of our lawyers to see her in police custody on Tuesday but the police refused to let us see her," Chen Guangfu said, adding that nearly a dozen police were waiting yesterday outside the Meng Liang Gu Hospital near Linyi, where she is recovering.
Yuan was detained by a group of officers from the criminal division of the city's Public Security Bureau, Chen Guangfu said.
He added that he and other associates of Yuan's have kept silent about the incident until now for fear of retribution.
Chen Guangcheng's case has drawn international attention, with human rights groups and the US government citing his arrest and conviction as an example of China's trampling of human rights.
Chen was first convicted and sentenced in August. He successfully appealed, but the case was sent back for retrial to the Yinan County Court.
Chen Guangcheng plans to appeal the new conviction once again, probably within 10 days, Teng Biao (滕彪), a member of his legal team, said yesterday.
On Friday, Teng called the retrial verdict "illegal."
"The trial has gone against normal legal procedures. His lawyers had much evidence showing that he was innocent but the court would not allow it," he said.
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