UpdateArtist Chen Guang detained for Tiananmen Square anniversary freed
Friends say ex-soldier has been released having been held in lead-up to anniversary of protests
Soldier-turned-artist Chen Guang was released yesterday, more than a month after he was detained in Beijing ahead of the 25th anniversary of the military crackdown on pro-democracy protests, his friend said.
Chen was among those detained by the government bent on preventing any commemoration of the suppression that took place in and around Tiananmen Square on June 3-4, 1989.
Beijing does not allow public discussions of the event and even discourages private conversations about it. The government also has tried to deter foreign media from covering the anniversary with threats of unspecified consequences.
Moves to control activists were particularly harsh this year, as more people than in previous years were detained, put under house arrest or forced to leave their cities of residence weeks before the anniversary.
Most have been released since June 4, although the prominent rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang was formally arrested on Friday on suspicion of "creating a disturbance" and "illegally obtaining personal information". Pu was seized as he attended a private commemoration.
Chen witnessed the crackdown as a soldier in 1989. His detention is believed to be connected to a private art performance, where he whitewashed over walls of painted year numbers from 1989 on.