The article reports the death of a accused from Tiananmen Square crisis in the Chinese prison under mysterious circumstances while the police insists it was a suicide.
2. Li Wangyang- a man of will
• A leading Chinese dissident, he imprisoned after the 1989
crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing.
• Li Wangyang was a former Chinese labour rights activist,
member of the Workers Autonomous Federation and the
Chairman of the Shaoyang WAF branch.
• He had advocated for independent labour unions in central
China’s Hunan province and was caught in the nation-wide
crackdown on all forms of dissent after the Tiananmen
Square democracy protests were squashed in 1989.
• He served twenty-one years in prison on charges of counter-
revolutionary propaganda, incitement, and subversion.
3. Suicide or murder?
• His body was found on the morning of June 6, Wednesday by
his sister Li Wangling and brother-in-law Zhao Baozhu when
they paid a routine visit to the hospital in Shaoyang city.
• Wangyang’s dead body was found next to his bed in the
hospital room hanging by a window bar with white bandages
around his neck.
• The hospital authorities and officials suggested that Li
Wangyang had committed suicide; as per the security and
the hospital authorities, Li Wangyang, 62, had committed
suicide.
4. The suspects
• Wangyang’s brother-in-law Zhao was suspicious of his death
because he had never expressed a desire to kill himself
despite the hardships that came his way.
• The activists who saw the news and the videos on internet
have also suspected the same since Li’s feet were touching
the ground.
• Zhou Zhirong, an activist and a family friend, told that Li’s
relatives were detained in a hotel.
• According to a local activist, Huang Lihong, the police came
to hospital and took the body away preventing the family
from confirming the actual death-cause.
5. Freedom to live?
• Analysing the entire story, considering the takes of both the
officials and Li Wangyang’s relatives and activists, it becomes
quite apparent that there is a hidden element to it all.
• According to a recent update by Human Rights in China,
relatives of Li Wangyang are being held by authorities.
• HRIC has learned from an informed source that the sister and
brother-in-law of Li Wangyang were taken to a hotel on June
7 and are being held there.
6. • Zhao’s cell phone constantly encountered a busy signal.
• In addition, two friends of the couple have also been put
under police surveillance.
• This intrusion into their personal space is definitely a sign of
suspect and inquisition.
• Even HRIC is deeply concerned about the safety of Li’s sister
and brother-in-law and urges the authorities to immediately
restore their personal freedom and ensure the right of Li’s
family to retain legal representation of their own choosing.
7. • Read detailed report on Long-Imprisoned Chinese Dissident
Found Dead on http://bit.ly/JWUXG6