2014-10-31
Activist Su Changlan criminally detained by Guangdong police for her involvement in Hong Kong-related activities, in an undated photo.
Photo courtesy of Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
Authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Friday detained a prominent women’s rights activist after she organized an online activity in support of Hong Kong’s Occupy Central pro-democracy movement.
Ye Haiyan, who founded the Women’s Rights Workshop, was taken away by police in her home district of Xinzhou after her home was searched, a Beijing-based rights lawyer told RFA.
“Police went to her home and confiscated some of her things,” rights lawyer Tang Jitian said. “I am guessing it’s because she organized some activities on and offline.”
“I can’t say for sure, but it is likely to have at least something to do with her support for Occupy Central,” Tang said.
Ye’s boyfriend Ling Haobo said around a dozen police officers had arrived at her home at around 11.30 a.m. local time on Friday, and had confiscated two notebook computers, three cellphones, and an external hard drive.
“I was at the door when the police came knocking,” Ling said, adding that police had stayed around 20 minutes. “Then they told Ye Haiyan to go with them to the police station, but they didn’t produce any documentation,” he said.
“They didn’t say whether it was for questioning, or whether it was criminal detention,” he said. “They just took her away, and left five officers behind to go through her things.”
He said Ye had recently joined an online movement in which participants shaved their heads to show support for Occupy Central.
“Several dozen people in mainland China shaved their heads,” Ling said.
Supporters held in China
The overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) group, which collates and translates reports from rights groups inside China, says it has documented 72 cases of detention of people showing public support for the Occupy Central movement.
Of those, 27 people were criminally detained and three were handed administrative detentions, while 32 remain in custody without charge. A further 11 were released, it said.
It said the most recent detention was that of Guangdong-based activist Su Changlan, who is being held by Foshan municipal authorities on suspicion of “incitement to subvert state power” after she took part in Hong Kong-related activities in the province.
