China Police Detain, Torture Wife of Activist Against Forced Abortions 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 10, 2006
Linyi, China (LifeNews.com) — Local police in the city of Linyi have detained Yuan Weijing, the wife of blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who brought international exposure to a brutal forced abortion campaign there and was jailed for four years as a result. Authorities stopped Yuan and her daughter on the way to a local festival.
Human Rights in China, a human rights watchdog group, indicated that Yuan left her house on the morning of October 3 with her one year-old daughter. Shortly after leaving her home, Yuan was followed by five or six individuals.
Yuan arrived in Linyi two hours after leaving her house and planned to catch a bus to a nearby city, Linshu, but were stopped by local police.
Officials from the Community Party stopped Yuan’s bus and told her to get off. They took her to the Shuanghou Township police station, according to HRIC.
“Neither the city nor county approve of your visit [to your parents’ home]," they told Yuan. "If you insist on going there, we may arrest you, and, just like Chen Guangcheng, you will bear the consequences of that decision. It won’t be good for your parents, either.”
HRIC sources told the group Yuan was detained until 6 PM that evening and was tortured and taunted by local police officials, despite the presence of the chief of police.
Yuan has been under constant monitoring by local officials since Chen was apprehended earlier this year and she is followed wherever she goes. Security at her house was increased when local authorities learned days beforehand of her plans to visit her parents and attend a festival.
After Chen told reporters about the brutal family planning campaign in Linyi, he was arrested on trumped up charges. A trial was held in August, and Linyi officials prevented his attorneys from attending.
The court proceedings ended with Chen sentenced to four years and three months in prison, though his attorneys are appealing the bogus conviction.
After numerous attempts, Chen’s two lawyers, Li Fangping and Li Jingsong, were finally able to meet with him. On September 28, they were notified by the Linyi City Intermediate People’s Court that Chen’s appeal hearing would be closed.
HRIC said Yuan told the group that this kind of operating behind closed doors only demonstrated that the Linyi City authorities were afraid to allow public scrutiny of the evidence and judicial process, and that if the facts were made public it would prove Chen’s innocence.
The group is urging the international community to do more to speak out against Chen and Yuan’s treatment.
