Germany calls for release of Chinese human rights lawyer arrested for inciting subversion
Yu Wensheng should be released without delay and granted the civil rights guaranteed in Chinese constitution, German commissioner for human rights says
The German commissioner for human rights on Wednesday called for the immediate release of disbarred rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, who was arrested by the Chinese authorities on January 19 and later charged with inciting subversion.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has overseen a sweeping crackdown on human rights activism in China that has seen hundreds of lawyers and activists detained, dozens arrested and some handed lengthy prison sentences.
Yu, an outspoken critic of the government clampdown who had worked to defend fellow lawyers who were arrested in the sweep, was disbarred on January 15, days before he was detained by authorities outside his home in Beijing.
Initially charged with “obstructing a public service”, Yu is now being investigated for “inciting subversion of state power”, his wife Xu Yan said earlier this week, adding that the police had also summonsed her in relation to her husband’s charges.
German commissioner Barbel Kofler said in a statement posted online that the latest developments in Yu’s case were “unsettling” and had increased his concerns about the rights situation in China.