News Advisory: Imprisoned Petitioner Xu Zhengqing Denied Family Visits
July 05, 2006
Human
Rights in China (HRIC) has learned that petitioner Xu Zhengqing, sentenced to
three years in prison in October 2005, has been denied his right to family
visits because he refuses to acknowledge wrongdoing or wear a prison uniform.
Xu
Zhengqing is a longtime petitioner who has been subjected to constant
persecution by the authorities as a result of his outspoken views. In its
indictment against Xu, the Shanghai Putuo District Procuratorate alleged that
while attempting to commemorate deceased former leader Zhao Zhiyang in Beijing on January 29, Xu caused disorder on a public bus
and later on a train while being forcibly escorted by police back to Shanghai. Xu was tried on
September 13, 2005 on a charge of “disrupting public order,” and sentenced to
three years’ imprisonment on October 17. An appeal hearing at Shanghai’s No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court
on January 20, 2006 upheld the original verdict and sentence. Sources say that
following his failed appeal, Xu told his defense lawyer that he would refuse to
wear a prison uniform, because he felt that doing so was tantamount to an
admission of guilt. Following his appeal, Xu was transferred to Shanghai’s Tilanqiao Prison
in February, and he has been allowed no visits from his family since then.
Sources say
Xu’s parents have repeatedly been denied access to visit him in prison, and
their inquiries with the Shanghai Municipal Letters & Petitions Office,
Public Security Bureau and other government departments have met with no
response. Recently Xu’s parents went again to Tilanqiao Prison and requested a
meeting with the warden, but guards barred them from entry. Eventually a prison
petitions officer surnamed Yang came out and spoke to Xu’s parents, reportedly
telling them that Xu’s family visits had been canceled because of his
recalcitrant attitude towards admitting guilt and wearing a prison uniform.
However, the petitions official reportedly also told Xu’s parents that Xu is
not being held in solitary confinement, and agreed to pass on their letter to
Xu. Xu’s parents have still received no reply from Xu.
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