China releases one of China Democracy Party founders.
Zhu Zhengming was condemned to 10 years in prison for launching a movement calling for a multi-party system for the country. Six years in prison "have destroyed his health".
Hangzhou (AsiaNews/SCMP) Zhu Zhengming, co-founder of the China Democracy Party, was released on 5 May after six years in prison, according to an anonymous source close to the movement of Chinese dissidents that launched the party.
Zhu Zhengming, 45, was released for health reasons but he was forced to accept a number of conditions. These include not talking to reporters, not publicly expressing opinions and not leaving five designated areas in the capital city of Zhejiang without permission.
"He must apply for approval from the Hangzhou Public Security Bureau if he wants to travel outside the city," the source said. "He cannot even go to his home town of Jiangshan, 300km from Hangzhou. With the authority's approval, Zhu is now staying with his mother in Jiangshan, but he will need to return to Hangzhou soon."
The dissident, a former engineer employed in a chemical factory, was condemned in 2000 to 10 years in prison by the Intermediate People's Court in Hangzhou on charges of "subversion", for setting up the Zhejiang Preparatory Committee of the China Democracy Party in 1998.
Party member, Chen Shuqing, said at least 50 party members and most of the founding members were arrested in a police crackdown in the same year. Chen added that the hard work and conditions Zhu was subjected to have "destroyed his health especially his shoulders and knees". He said: "Whenever it gets cold, it's very painful for him. That's a result of the harder tasks he was assigned to do during the first five years in prison. He looks much older now."
The China Democracy Party, which advocates a multiparty system for the nation's politics, was founded by democracy activists and former leaders of the student revolution linked to the Tiananmen Square movement.
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14/10/2022 16:54
04/06/2008
