The wife of Chinese human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, who was convicted of inciting subversion of state power, Xu Yan, has been campaigning for her husband. She attended a U.S. Constitution Day event at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Thursday (April 17) and spoke with outgoing U.S. Ambassador Branstad, who is returning to the U.S. She said she briefed Branstad on her and Yu’s situation, and asked him to speak with her. She told Branstad that she introduced herself and Yu to him and asked him and the U.S. government to help rescue Yu so that he can return home free as soon as possible, and that Branstad is concerned about his situation.
Yu has been representing 709 arrestees and was arrested in early 2018 after issuing a citizen’s proposal for a constitutional amendment. In June, the Xuzhou Intermediate Court found him guilty of “inciting subversion of state power” in a closed session and sentenced him to four years in prison, against which he appealed.
His attorney has said that during the first trial of Yu’s case, government-appointed lawyers and public security officers pressured him to confess his guilt and wanted him to report other human rights lawyers, but Yu refused. He was starving for a long time late last year and early this year, and a recent examination showed that his brain is normal, but he still has a tremor in his right hand.
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