Two weeks after veteran pro-democracy activist Li Wangyang died under suspicious circumstances, some of his friends who have spoken out about his case remained detained by police or were still under house arrest yesterday, according to people familiar with them.
Li, a labour rights campaigner from Hunan, was jailed for 21 years for his involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
He was found dead in a hospital in Shaoyang on June 6, a year after his release, but his family and friends have refused to accept the police explanation that Li, 62, hanged himself in his hospital ward.
Activist Zhu Chengzhi, who was given a 10-day administrative detention by police on June 8 after disputing the official ruling that Li committed suicide, should have been released on Monday, but he was immediately taken into police custody again, according to fellow activist Wang Lihong .
Zhu's wife, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, earlier said that Zhu was detained for 10 days because he refused to sign a statement vowing not to investigate Li's death or speak about it again.
Wang, who spoke to Zhu's wife yesterday, said Zhu's wife went to the police station in Shaoyang to pick up her husband on Monday but was told he could not yet be released.