Dharamsala, August 6 – A closed hearing in Chengdu Wuhou District Court yesterday on the case of Sichuan rights activist and founder of Tianwang Human Rights Center, Huang Qi, produced no outcome with the authorities postponing the verdict.
Huang Qi was arrested by authorities after actively participating in Sichuan earthquake relief activities and helping parents who had lost their children seek justice. Huang Qi’s lawyers, Mo Shaoping and Ding Xikui, appeared in court to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf.
New York based rights group, Human Rights in China (HRIC), said Pu Fei (浦飞), a volunteer for Tianwang Human Rights Center who was taken away with Huang Qi last June by unidentified people was willing to appear in court to testify in support of Huang Qi but was prevented by the police. Pu Fei was kidnapped in Chengdu by four police officers, brought to Nantong, and prevented from appearing in court, the HRIC said. The police threatened him, saying, “Our public security offices are doing this to prevent you from continuing to commit crimes.” Pu Fei was detained for two days, and was only released after the conclusion of Huang Qi’s hearing.
“Authorities who violate the law, by abducting witnesses in broad daylight, cause serious doubt that justice will be served in Huang Qi’s trial,” said Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China. “This case, which is already tainted by suspicious politicization of the legal process, demonstrates that it is, as rights defender Teng Biao noted recently, the rule of law that is on trial in China. The Chinese authorities need to take immediate and public steps to assure domestic and international confidence in the fairness and openness of the trial.”
Huang Qi disappeared suddenly on June 10, 2008, two months before the Beijing Olympics, because of his reports of the situation in earthquake-affected areas. It has been over a year since he was arrested by the authorities on the charge of “illegal possession of state secrets.”
Huang Qi established the Chengdu Tianwang Missing Persons Inquiry Service Center in October 1998 and the Tianwang Missing Persons website on June 4, 1999. This website was widely recognized by the media for its work on helping to find many missing people and unite family members. On June 3, 2000, Huang Qi was arrested by the Chengdu police for “voicing grievances about June Fourth, crying out for the democracy movement,” and other charges. After being detained for three years, Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Huang Qi to five years’ imprisonment on May 9, 2003 for the crime of inciting subversion of state power. During his detention, Huang Qi contracted hydrocephalus, encephalatrophy, rheumatic heart disease, and other illnesses due to long periods of brutal beatings and torture, according to HRIC. He was released in 2005, and continued to work for domestic rights, publish rights protection information, and provide assistance to vulnerable groups.
