Arrested publisher Geng Xiaonan is paying the price for supporting me, says dissident law professor
- Geng’s lawyer confirms prosecutors have approved the arrest of the 46-year-old, who was detained in Beijing last month along with her husband Qin Zhen
- She had previously spoken out in support of Xu Zhangrun, an outspoken critic of the Chinese leadership’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic
Beijing prosecutors have arrested a prominent publisher who spoke out in defence of dissident academic Xu Zhangrun, her lawyer confirmed on Tuesday.
Shang Baojun said prosecutors had formally approved the arrest of Geng Xiaonan last Wednesday. Her husband, Qin Zhen, was also detained by Beijing police last month, but the lawyer had no information about him.
Shang said he was not able to comment further on Geng’s case as he has been warned by the authorities to not give interviews to foreign media.
Earlier reports have said that Geng was being investigated for “illegal business operations” and was accused of illicitly publishing more than 8,000 books.
The reports said that Geng, 46, the founder of privately run publishing company Ruiya Books, had only been able to meet her lawyers twice since her detention more than a month ago, but had been repeatedly interrogated by police during that period.