2014-07-04
Protesters gather in Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 2, 1989.
AFP
Chinese authorities have formally arrested at least 17 people in connection with public attempts to mark the 25th anniversary of the military crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, rights groups said, including seven people from the central city of Zhengzhou who held a public memorial event.
In Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan province, activist Chen Wei was formally arrested alongside her husband Yu Shiwen and three others who attended: Hou Shuai, Fang Hongwei, and Dong Guangping.
Two lawyers hired by those arrested, Chang Boyang and Ji Laisong, were also formally held.
All seven are were arrested on Thursday on charges of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” and are being held in the Zhengzhou No. 3 Detention Center, the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said.
“A lawyer went with us [to the detention center] today…and called up police…who said seven people had been formally arrested,” Chang’s daughter Chang Ruoxi told RFA on Friday. “I went with my mother and Dong Guangping’s wife.”
“The prosecution told us [on Monday] that the crime had been changed from disrupting public order to picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” Chang said. “The other relatives confirmed [that seven people were formally arrested].”
“They have been in detention for 37 days, and the authorities should have informed the family by now. They have acted illegally from start to finish.”
“I think this is disgraceful,” she said. “All of these people are innocent.”
