A protester on Dec. 11, 2014, the day the Admiralty protest camp was cleared by the police. (Photo: Laurel Chor/Coconuts Media)
At least 27 people remain detained in mainland China after showing support for the Umbrella movement, claims human rights organisation Amnesty International.
About 100 people were put behind bars since the start of the protests, according to a statement released on Feb. 12.
They say that four people’s whereabouts are unknown, nine have not been given access to their lawyers, and two have reported being tortured while in detention.
Three of those still detained were arrested on the suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power”.
Twenty were arrested on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, which can be punishable by up to five years in prison.
Amnesty says this charge is “vague and highly subjective”, and is often used by mainland authorities to “suppress human rights defenders and critics of the government”.
Poet Wang Zhang is one of those accused of such a crime after uploading a photo of him holding an umbrella. He was detained in October.
Allegedly, it was not until December that Wang was allowed to see his lawyer, who he told that he had been interrogated non-stop for five days.
In that period he claims he was beaten, prevented from sleeping, and forced to stand most of the time.
Li Yufeng, a women’s rights activist, was arrested in November after posting pro-Umbrella Movement messages online.
She told her lawyer that she was beaten while in detention, and twice she was forced to stand in her underwear in a cold room.
Activist Song Ze was detained in October after posting a photo of him holding a pro-Umbrella Movement sign. He was formally charged in November.
He was allegedly interrogated for more than 10 hours at time, was not allowed to wear his glasses, and had his feet cuffed together after he got in a fight with another detainee.
Amnesty urged the public to send appeals to different officials in the Chinese government, including the Chinese ambassador to the US.
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