Detained activist Guo Feixiong tells lawyer of hunger strike

Veteran legal activist Guo Feixiong, whose three-month detention had sparked worries over his well-being, was allowed to see a lawyer for the first time yesterday and said he had been on a hunger strike, his lawyer said.

Lawyer Sui Muqing said Guo had been permitted to see lawyer Chen Guangwu and told him he had protested his detention by refusing to eat for 25 days starting on August 8, the day he was taken into custody.

Sui had tried eight times to see Guo, but police have refused to grant the request. Calls made to Chen's mobile phone were not not answered yesterday.

Guo, whose real name is Yang Maodong , said he had not been tortured as some feared.

His sister said last month that when no one was allowed to see him, her concerns for Guo's safety were growing given he had been tortured during his previous time in jail.

She only received notification in October, a month after he had been formally arrested on the charge of "gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place". Mainland law mandates that detainees' families are to be notified of their detention or arrest within 24 hours.