Beijing isolates Liu Xiaobo’s wife, unleashes wave of arrests on the day of the Nobel
Beijing (AsiaNews) - Police have surrounded the home of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo, hours before the ceremony awarding the honor to the imprisoned writer. The wife of Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since the announcement that her husband was being awarded the Nobel, in October. Her phone line was cut and her friends, family and colleagues in the community of dissidents living in China have been placed under house arrest or under strict surveillance. All have been forbidden to leave the country, fearing that they might go to Oslo to receive the award on behalf of the imprisoned writer. From Thursday, December 9 police officers have been guard the entrance of the block, and checking the identity of anyone entering. A dozen journalists are waiting outside the entrance, while other police agents patrol within the perimeter.
Thursday, December 9, police made a raid on human rights activists and dissidents, and forced them to "take a trip" away from their homes for the next few days. These episodes have been documented by the group,Chinese Human Rights Defender (CHRD), which has compiled a list of cases.
The co-organiser of Charter 08, Zhang Zuhua, was taken by the police on the street near his home. Still today his whereabouts are unknown. Zhang, a college friend of Liu Xiaobo, was returning to his apartment after lunch followed by some police agents, when a minivan stopped near him. A group of both police and national security guards (guobao) got out and asked him to come with them. He refused, but was pushed into the vehicle. On December 7, his Internet connection was cut, and he was advised to take a trip outside Beijing for a few days, but he refused.
The human rights lawyer and professor Teng Biao, was arrested after his lessons at the China Institute of Political Science and Law, and conducted to Yanqing County, outside Beijing. He was told that he will remain there until after December 12.
The whereabouts of Beijing scholar, Cui Weiping, is unknown, he is being held in an undisclosed location near the capital.
The journalist Gao Yu and her husband, were escorted by the police from the airport, no-one knows where they are.
The author Yu Jie.
The human rights activist of Xi’an Yang Hai was taken to a place near the city, where he will be forced to remain until December 12. Yang protested, saying he has to care for his ill mother, but they took him away by force.
The human rights lawyer Zhang Jiankang of Xi'an, was also taking care of his elderly and sick mother when the police came to take him away.
The activists of Xi'An, Fu Sheng and Ma Xiaoming are thought to have been taken away but there is no detailed information.
Internet access has been cut off for many others, or their phone been partially disabled (they can make calls but not receive calls). Below is a list of those residing in Beijing. The scholar Xu Youyu; activist Fan Yafeng (taken by police ), the activist and artist Ai Weiwei, whose phone was blocked, and whose internet connection was cut off, the human rights activist Wu gan. The author Wang Lixiong, and the Tibetan blogger Woeser, forced to remain home in the coming days.
Furthermore, the author Shang Xia, in Shanghai, the scholar Mo Zhixu, currently imprisoned in Leshan, Sichuan, Wen Kejian an author from Hangzhou, the activist Hua Chunhui from Wuxi City.
Moreover, in the days leading up to December 10 there have been numerous incidents of torture by the authorities against dissidents and activists. National security officials have prevented the Beijing lawyer Li Xionbing from participating in a seminar organized by the European Union office in China;
Six security officers are monitoring and controlling the movements of Prof. Xu Zhiyong;
The activist in Beijing Gu Chuan was contacted by three security agents, who have warned him not to leave his house;
The activist Wu Yilong, from Hangzhou is under arrest in "soft" custody since Thursday, December 9, while activists Mao Qingxiang and Zhu Yufu are under surveillance;
The author and activist Jiang Danwen from Shanghai is in “soft” detention at home, and can not leave for any reason;
The activist Zhang Shijie of Chongqing has been advised not to take part in any events that celebrate Liu Xiaobo in the coming days;
Professor Xia Yeliang of Beijing is under surveillance since December 6, and was told not to take part in any events, publish anything online, or accept interviews with foreign media;
The activist Xiao Yong from Guangzhou was taken from his home on Dec. 9, the police told him he would take him to the hotel. The agents confiscated his computer and his and his wife’s cell phone.
From December 7 the offices of NGO Aizhing are without electricity, while water supplies All sages Bookstore in Beijing were cut, the store manager, Liu Suli, is in “soft” detention.
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