POLITICAL PRISONER UPDATE-CHEN GUANGCHENG

In a July 20, 2007, letter to President Hu Jintao and other senior Chinese leaders, CECC Chairman Sander Levin and Co-Chairman Byron Dorgan urged China's leaders to demonstrate their commitment to criminal justice reform and the rule of law in the case of imprisoned activist Chen Guangcheng. (Read the full text of the letter in English or in Chinese). On Friday, August 24, 2007, Chinese authorities prevented Chen's wife, Yuan Weijing, from traveling abroad to accept a prestigious international human rights award on behalf of her husband.

Mr. Chen is a self-trained legal advocate who drew international news media attention to population planning abuses in Linyi City, Shandong province in 2005. Local authorities placed Chen under house arrest in September 2005 and formally arrested him on June 21, 2006. On the eve of his August 18 trial, three of his defense lawyers were taken into custody. The Yinan County People's Court first tried and sentenced Chen on August 24 to four years three months in prison for "intentional destruction of property" and "organizing a group of people to disturb traffic order." Li Jinsong, lead counsel on Chen's criminal defense team, filed an appeal in September arguing that at trial, the court had illegally deprived Chen of the right to be represented by criminal defense lawyers of his own choosing. On October 31, the Linyi Intermediate People's Court vacated the original trial court judgment and remanded the case for a retrial. The retrial took place on November 27. The next day, November 28, according to CRD and Radio Free Asia, local police took in Chen's wife, Yuan Weijing, for questioning and issued an order authorizing her house arrest and accusing her of the same two crimes as her husband. Two days later, on December 1, 2006 the Yinan court handed down the same judgment as before, which the appeals court affirmed on January 12, 2007. Chen's retrial prompted repeated criticism for its criminal procedure violations. Chen is serving time in Linyi Prison. Authorities formally lifted the order authorizing Yuan's house arrest on its date of expiration, May 27, 2007, but continued to monitor her movement and interactions. In June 2007, Chen reportedly informed his wife and brother that he had been beaten by fellow inmates.

In August 2007, Chen received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his irrepressible passion for justice in leading ordinary Chinese citizens to assert their legitimate rights under the law. Yuan Weijing, had hoped to travel to Manila, Philippines, to accept the award on behalf of her husband, but, in a story unfolding at the time of this posting, Chinese authorities have prevented her from leaving the country. (Check back for more details as they become available).

Previous CECC coverage of Mr. Chen's case can be found on line via the CECC's Virtual Academy web page.