Court verdicts in "political cases" to follow Obama's China visit - HK group


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2009 年 11 月 20 日 21:56
BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
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Text of report by Hong Kong Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy on 20 November

[Hong Kong Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy report: "Verdict in Huang Qi Case in Sichuan To Be Announced Next Week; Several Political Cases Could Be Wrapped Up Soon"]

(20 Nov 2009) - Zeng Li, wife of Sichuan human rights figure Huang Qi, has told this Centre that a decision on the case against Huang Qi of "illegal possession of state secrets" will be announced next Monday (23 November) at 1000 hours in Chengdu's Wuhou District Court. Right now Zeng Li is at the court to apply to be present to hear the verdict, but court workers refuse to see her. Also, there is still no news about a decision in the Tan Zuoren case, but this Centre anticipates that the Tan Zuoren case and the cases of Liu Xiaobo and in Shenzhen the Xue Mingkai case of "subverting state power" will be concluded soon. Also, this Centre has learned from a figure in diplomatic circles that when Obama met with Chinese leaders, he mentioned the name of Liu Xiaobo, and whether or not these political cases are dealt with leniently will be seen as an extremely important sign of whether or not the Chinese government is willing to engage in dialogue with the new Obama administration about human rights in China.

On 23 November the Huang Qi case will test the results of Obama's results in the area of human rights during his trip to China. If Huang Qi receives a light sentence of a year and a half, he could be set free because he has been detained for that long already. Tan Zuoren's wife Wang Qinghua told this Centre a decision has not yet been scheduled. But this Centre has learned that the people on the panel in charge of that case are speeding up the handling of it, and this Centre anticipates a decision on it at the end of this month. Also, 24 November is the final deadline in the Liu Xiaobo case, and the Procuratorate in Beijing has no choice but to decide by then whether to bring charges against Liu Xiaobo or send the case back to the Public Security organization for further investigation. Sending the case back to Public Security for reinvestigation would greatly increase the chances of Liu Xiaobo being set free.

Also, there has been new progress in the case of the young 20 year old Xue Mingkai in Shenzhen, on trial in Shenzhen Intermediate Court in September for joining the "China Democratic Party." The court found a hospital to do an evaluation of Xue Mingkai to see whether or not he is mentally ill. If it is determined that he has a mental problem, the court could set him free. Otherwise he faces a severe sentence of 10 years or more, and that would reverberate through nearby Hong Kong.

An individual in diplomatic circles indicated to this Centre that when Obama met with Chinese leaders in Beijing, he mentioned the name of Liu Xiaobo, and the outcome of the series of current political cases will be a test of whether or not Obama's human rights pressure has had any effect.

We have also learned that Beijing dissidents Li Hai and Gao Hongming, who were taken from their homes during Obama's visit to China, returned home yesterday, while husband and wife Ding Zilin and Jiang Peikun returned to Beijing from Wuxi yesterday.

Source: Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Hong Kong, in Chinese 20 Nov 09