Chinese lawyer detained again after sharing his experience of being tortured

Chinese human rights lawyer Chang Weiping joined a private gathering in the southern city of Xiamen last December, and he was subsequently arrested along with several dissidents in China. After being held at a secret location for 10 days, he was released on bail. However, his life remains under tight police surveillance. In a video uploaded to Youtube earlier this month, Chang shared details about how he was tortured during detention.

Several Chinese dissidents were arrested for attending a private gathering in Xiamen on December 26, 2019, and some of them were later released on bail. However, they are all under tight police surveillance ever since.

Apart from prominent intellectual Xu Zhiyong and human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, who have both been officially arrested by the Chinese police, Chinese human rights lawyer Chang Weiping also attended the private gathering. He was first detained for 10 days at a designated location under the charge of “subversion of state power” and he was later released on bail.

On October 16 2020, Chang uploaded a video to his Youtube channel, in which he shared how he was tortured during the 10-day detention. After he was released on bail, he hasn’t been able to meet his family or his lawyer. Six days after he uploaded the video, he lost contact with his family again.

According to a statement released by the Chinese Human Rights Group, Chang’s wife received a call from police in Baoji City on October 22, telling her that Chang had been put under residential surveillance at a designated location for violating laws.

When she tried to obtain more detail from the police, they hang up the phone and refused to answer calls from Chang’s family again. “The police searched Chang’s residence in Baoji City and Shenzhen on the same evening, and they reportedly didn’t show any document that approved the search,” wrote the Chinese Human Rights Group in an online statement.

Chang revealed details of the torture

In the video uploaded to Youtube on October 16, Chang said he still believes that he is innocent because attending a private gathering in Xiamen didn’t violate any law in China. Chang also provided details about how he was tortured.

“I was forced to sit in a tiger chair for 240 hours straight,” Chang said. “It was a form of extreme torment. The index finger and ring finger on my right hand are still numb from that torment. I either can’t feel anything in those fingers or I can only vaguely feel something.”

After he was released on bail, local police still kept calling him every morning. They also asked to meet with him on a weekly basis. During the 10-day detention, the police also interrogated him 16 times. They collected information about his social relationship, his previous comments, all the cases that he had handled and his entry and exit records.

“They didn’t find any criminal evidence, but their behaviors have brought a lot of troubles to my life,” Chang said. “My friends and colleagues at the law firm have all been seriously harassed by the police.”

Chang said even though he is still feeling anxious, he didn’t suffer any fatal injuries. He promised that even if he would lose freedom again, he would not try to commit suicide or harm himself. “I will not accept a government-appointed lawyer, because I have already appointed my own lawyer,” Chang said.

Chang has been handling cases related to HIV discrimination, hepatitis B discrimination, workplace sexual harassment and gender discrimination. He is a member of “the lawyer’s group for employment discrimination,” “the Rainbow lawyer’s group and “the voluntary consulting group for problematic vaccines.”

Repeated extension of the investigation period for Ding Jiaxi’s case

After Chinese human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi was formally arrested under the charge of “inciting subversion of state power” in June, his wife received information that suggested that he could have been tortured in the detention center in July. His wife, Sophie Luo, said the police has since extended the investigation period for Ding’s case two times. They extended it from August 19 to November 19.

She said the police’s decision to extend the investigation period for Ding’s case is illegal. “According to Chinese law, the police needs approval from the public prosecutor’s office in order to extend the investigation period,” Luo said. “However, we only learned about the extension after the lawyer hired by me was asked the detention center. Additionally, Chinese law allows Ding to write me letters during his detention, but he hasn’t been allowed to do so since the beginning of his detention. The police station claimed that he didn’t apply to write letters to me, but I don’t believe their excuses.”

Regarding news about Chang being tortured during his detention, Luo thinks that this is one of the many ways that the Chinese government will use to keep oppressing members of the private meeting in Xiamen. She said the police wants to use the “1226 mass arrest” to spread fear among civil society in China, letting Chinese people know that there is no space to express their own views.

“The Chinese government has become so scared of any kind of dissents from civil society,” Luo said. “In the future, China’s civil society will become so quiet.”

Luo said according to China’s criminal procedure law, the police is banned from using torture to force confessions out of defendants. She said the police has warned most family members of those detained during the “1226 mass arrest” not to contact anyone or share details of the case. She thinks that those who are released on bail should consider sharing the experience of being tortured during detention. She thinks they should also think about suing the police with those evidence.

“If they choose to share the experience of being tortured and file lawsuits, there should be legal space for them to file cases against the police,” Luo said.

This piece first appeared in Mandarin on DW’s Chinese website.