2015-01-07
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Li Biyun at a hospital in Guangzhou, Jan. 4, 2015.
RFA
Outspoken political activist Li Biyun, who once tried to stand as a candidate in local elections in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, has been admitted to hospital following several fainting fits since being dumped at the side of a road from a moving vehicle on her release from detention, her sister said.
A court in Guangdong’s Shunde city found Li guilty of “obstructing civic duties” but sentenced her to the same amount of time she had already been held, releasing her on Dec. 19.
Li, 47, who has already alleged torture at the hands of prison guards and police, was released from the police-run Shunde Detention Center, as there was no sentence for her to serve in prison.
Her sister Li Caiyun said Li was admitted earlier this week to Guangzhou’s Fangcun Charity Hospital after collapsing and losing consciousness several times since her release.
“She has woken up but can’t speak or move,” Li Caiyun said. “In the three weeks since the government chucked her out at the roadside, she has fainted three times already.”
Li sustained broken ribs during her year-long detention, but had been denied treatment at a police-run hospital, and was instead forced to wear manacles, her sister said.
She has since been coughing up blood, and is unable to walk due to leg injuries sustained during her “release” from detention, Li Caiyun said.
Alleged torture
Li’s defense lawyer Liu Hao said he had a detailed account of the alleged torture she suffered at the hands of detention center guards in July.
“I don’t think that she got justice at her trial, and that has to do with the state of the judicial system in this country,” he said. “She described her torture in court, and we submitted a statement to the court.”
“But the trial was held behind closed doors, and they only gave the lawyers a copy of the judgement; they had to go and pick it up afterwards,” he said. “It was totally ridiculous.”
