This is horrible. According to Spero, Chen Kegui, nephew of the blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, was arrested by police in Shandong on sham murder charges.
So while the media has reported that Gunagchang’s life was going to essentially be Disneyland from this day forward, the reality is a bit different.
China has said that Guangcheng can go anywhere and do whatever he wants, but now China arrests his nephew to control him. This is shameless. He’s reportedly been denied access to his family lawyer and his wife has been placed under house arrest.
Chen Kegui is accused of “intentional homicide” because during the dissident’s escape, he used a knife in self-defence against agents and unidentified people who burst into his uncle’s home, slightly wounding some of the attackers. Why he was charged with homicide is unclear since no one died.
But he could be facing the death penalty.
This is nothing short of a disgrace which stems from the tyrannical nature of China’s government and the cowardice of the Obama administration which essentially forced him to leave the US embassy where he was hiding.
The Obama administration never knew what to make of Chen because he wasn’t their kind of human rights activist. He stood up against forced abortion and sterilization. Now, if only Chen was standing up for free contraception, then maybe Obama would be all for him.
May 15, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Pre-collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the community I lived in hosted a family from the Soviet Union. Except their infant son – who they were required to leave behind in order to make sure they didn't defect.
May 15, 2012 at 10:06 pm
I grew up in China, and my family witnessed the "justice" there. If Guangcheng's nephew is convicted of this, the sentence is meted out quickly, often that very day.
May 15, 2012 at 11:03 pm
We must keep protesting in relation to this. All Girls Allowed, amongst others, has a campaign. And keep praying.