Li Wenzu, Chinese ‘709’ campaigner banned from seeing detained lawyer husband, wins human rights award
- Barred from leaving country, Li – wife of Wang Quanzhang – praises work of activists who fought for rights of the 300 lawyers China sought to silence
Li Wenzu was too tired to stay up late at her Beijing home to check the internet news of a human rights award ceremony taking place in Stockholm, Sweden, although she was the recipient of the honour.
The wife of detained human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang said she was barred from leaving China after her high-profile 170km (106 mile) march from Beijing to Tianjin in April, when she petitioned to visit the husband she has not seen since his arrest in the summer of 2015.
It was the first time the Edelstam Prize, named after Swedish diplomat Harald Edelstam, was awarded to a Chinese person.
At Tuesday night’s ceremony, the organiser could only air a recorded video message from Li and present the award on Li’s behalf to Yuan Weijing, wife of the exiled and blind Chinese legal campaigner Chen Guangcheng.
Wang, now 42, was among the 300 lawyers and legal activists taken by the Chinese government during a crackdown that began on July 9, 2015. Critics said the campaign was an effort to silence China’s human rights defenders.
In the aftermath of what became known as the “709” crackdown, Li and other spouses of detainees formed a support group and began campaigning for their release.
“When I heard the news of the award, I was nervous because I felt that in China there were so many people who worked hard for the 709 case, and their achievements were far greater than mine. Everything that I’ve done is just what I should do. I don’t deserve this award. So thanks to everyone for the encouragement and recognition,” Li said on Wednesday.