After four years, China still denies wife of ‘709’ human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang visitation rights
- ‘Just once’ – Li Wenzu asks prison authorities for proof her husband is still alive
- Li has become persistent critic of Beijing and target of government restrictions
Li Wenzu, the wife of jailed Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, on Friday asked to see him “just once” and end four years of isolation from his family, friends and supporters.
Wang, 42, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in January after a closed-door trial in December.
A lawyer who defended political campaigners and victims of land seizures, Wang was taken in the government sweep of legal critics of communist authorities that became known as the “709” clampdown because the arrests began on July 9, 2015.
Wang was charged with “subversion of state power” in January 2016. He was the last of more than 200 detained lawyers and campaigners to be tried or released.
“My concern is that from the time he was arrested, no one has seen Wang Quanzhang, not even the lawyers that we hired,” Li said. “All I want is to see him one time to know that he is still alive.”
On Monday, Wang was transferred from detention in the northern city of Tianjin to Linyi jail in the eastern province of Shandong, Li said, citing an official letter to Wang’s sister.
