Jailed dissident held in solitary confinement for refusing to sing socialist anthem
The man's name is Zhao Changqing. He is already purging a five-year prison sentence for asking China's President Hu Jintao for democratic reforms.
Shanghai (Asianews/Agencies) - An imprisoned dissident was forced to spend 40 days in solitary confinement for refusing to sing a Chinese socialist anthem. Former middle school teacher Zhao Changqing has been serving a five-year sentence in Shaanxi province's Weinan Prison handed down in August 2003 on subversion charges.
Over that time, Zhao has been subjected to beatings - sometimes carried out by other prisoners - and repeated terms in solitary confinement. Zhao's latest stretch in solitary was prompted by his refusal to sing "Socialism is Good" and other songs praising China's ruling Communist Party during the prison's morning flag-raising ceremony.
An officer who answered the phone at Weinan Prison's Education Department said she was "unclear" about Zhao's case, but added, "We can't release any information about the prisoners." The woman refused to give her name or other details.
Zhao's involvement in the pro-democracy movement dates to the 1989 protests centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square. He served four months in prison after the bloody military suppression of the protests and was later sentenced to three years on charges of endangering state security after accusing officials of rigging local assembly elections.
His latest prison sentence came after he and 191 others signed an open letter demanding political reforms ahead of a major Communist Party meeting in late 2002.
Zhao is believed to be among at least four democracy activists still imprisoned for signing the open letter, issued as President and Communist Party leader Hu Jintao was taking on his new positions.
Mr Hu has so far shown no inclination to deviate from the party's rigid intolerance of political dissident.
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06/06/2023 15:33
