Source: www.ChinaAid.org
Date: September 15, 2021
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Changsha rights activist Cheng Yuan in an undated photo. (Photo: RFA source) |
(Chengdu, Sichuan Province—September 15, 2021) On August 5, ChinaAid resources reported that Cheng Yuan, one of the defendants in the NGO [non-government organization] Changsha Funeng case, was sentenced to five years for “subversion of State power.” Liu Dazhi (Liu Yongze) and Wu Ge Jianxiong, involved in the same case, received two years and three years respectively.
Shi Minglei, Cheng Yuan’s wife, announced:
Today, I learned that Cheng Yuan was sentenced to five years. The attorney appointed by the government refused to give us the verdict. It is completely an illegal trial. We, the family of Cheng Yuan, will never acknowledge it.
Cheng Yuan, originally from Changsha, Hunan Province, moved to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province to became one of the founders and staffers of the NGO Changsha Funeng. Changsha Funeng provides legal defense for persons living with HIV, AIDS, and hepatitis B patients. In 2013, he became prestigious because one of his clients in an AIDS employment discrimination case in Jinxian County, Jiangxi Province received legal compensation.
On July 21, 2019, he was suddenly taken away by police from Hunan Province Changsha State Security Bureau in Shenzhen and held immediately under “designated residential surveillance” on the charge of suspected “subversion of State power.” He was asked multiple times about his responsibilities in Changsha Funeng, funding resources, and details about his recent activities—namely his recent trip to Hong Kong.
Other sources report that the arrest negatively affected Chen Yuan's family: Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interrogated his wife, Shi Minglei, for 17 hours, covering her head in a black cloth. Chen Yuan's 3-year-old daughter had a seizure and talked in her sleep. Officials also also threatened and warned his brother, Cheng Hao, and his elderly father. The defense attorney was prohibited from details about the case and was only informed of his client’s indictment and detention length.
On August 26, 2019, Changsha City State Security Bureau arrested two staffers of Changsha Funeng—Liu Dazhi and Wu Ge Jianxiong—on the charge of suspected “subversion of State power.”
After a secret trial on July 20, 2021, officials charged Cheng Yuan with a severe 5-year imprisonment ending on July 2, 2024 on the charge of “subversion of State power.” Cheng Yuan is now detained at Hunan Province State Security Department Detention Center.
Three previous ChinaAid posts relating to Cheng Yuan and Shi Mingle:
https://www.chinaaid.org/2021/06/aliyah-this-fathers-day-my-father-has.html
https://www.chinaaid.org/2021/04/update-news-by-shi-minglei-wife-of.html
https://www.chinaaid.org/2021/04/shi-minglei-wife-and-daughter-of.html
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