Missing Hong Kong bookseller says he turned himself in for 2003 drunk driving death on state TV
Gui Minhai, the bookseller missing since November claims in a television interview he surrendered to mainland Chinese authorities - despite being given a suspended sentence for the offence 12 years ago
One of the five booksellers who had mysteriously disappeared in recent months appeared in an interview on state media on Sunday night, saying he had surrendered to the mainland authorities after being on the run for more than 12 years.
Gui Minhai, a China-born Swedish national and co-owner of Mighty Current publishing company – which specialises in books banned on the mainland – appeared on CCTV, admitting he had been fleeing from a suspended two-year jail term since causing the death of a 23-year-old university student while drunk-driving in Ningbo, Zhejiang province in 2004.
“I was afraid of going to jail, and there was no way I could develop on the mainland, so I thought I better run,” Gui said.
He surrendered to mainland Chinese police in October last year.
“I have to shoulder my own liability, and I’m willing to be punished,” Gui said, while sobbing.