Women activist Li Tingting, 25, poses with letters and a paper which read “Construction regulations should be reasonable, bathroom proportion 2:1 (women/men)” in this undated file handout picture taken in an unknown location in China, provided by a women”s rights group on 8 April 2015
The recently freed activists, including Li Tingting, were said to be linked to Yirenping
China has threatened to punish a local human rights group, hours after releasing five activists said to be linked to the organisation.
The foreign affairs ministry said on Tuesday that Yirenping had “violated the law” but gave no further details.
China earlier this week freed the women after more than a month in detention, a move welcomed by rights groups.
The detention of the women, who planned protests against sexual harassment, had sparked an international outcry.
In a daily press briefing on Tuesday, the foreign affairs ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the activists were from Yirenping and that the organisation “will be punished for violating the law”.
The details of the allegations and the punishment threatened were not given.
Yirenping’s co-founder Lu Jun told reporters that the group would be hiring a lawyer to respond to both the allegations and a March raid on one of its offices.
“We have reason to believe that if Yirenping really engaged in ‘illegal’ behaviour, the police would have brought it up long ago, and not the foreign ministry today,” Lu was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The five activists are (L to R): Li Tingting, Wei Tingting, Wang Man, Zheng Churan, and Wu Rongrong
Also known as the Beijing Yirenping Centre, the group has offices in Beijing as well as Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
It was founded in 2006 to “promote public health, eliminate discrimination, and defend the right of disadvantaged groups through legal means”, according to its website.
