(Chen Guangcheng) Relatives of Dissident Said to Face Harassment
Source: New York Times
Family members and lawyers representing Chen Guangcheng are facing increased harassment despite an international deal brokered to help Mr. Chen, a legal activist who escaped house arrest last month and sought refuge in the American Embassy here.
According to lawyers and activists, the police in Mr. Chen’s hometown have put several of his family members under various forms of detention as part of an investigation into Mr. Chen’s nephew, who is accused of assaulting police officers. One of the lawyers set to defend the nephew is said to have been detained in a Beijing jail, and two others have been warned off the case.
Nicholas Bequelin, in Human Rights Watch’s Hong Kong office, said these reports showed that officials in Mr. Chen’s hometown, Dongshigu, continue to exercise arbitrary power. Although the nephew’s actions — family members and the police agree that he brandished a kitchen cleaver at officers — should be investigated, the family is concerned that local officials will not give him a fair hearing.
“The U.S. needs to keep raising these cases very strongly,” Mr. Bequelin said. “This is about justice in China; it’s larger than just Chen Guangcheng.”
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/world/asia/chinese-activists-family-said-to-face-harassment.html
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