Chinese rights advocates Wang Yu, Bao Longjun formally arrested on subversion charges
Arrests come six months to the day they were first taken away and held in isolation without access to lawyers
Prominent mainland rights lawyer Wang Yu and her husband Bao Longjun have been formally arrested on subversion charges, after being detained in isolation for six months, their lawyer said on Wednesday.
The news came after the confirmation this week of the formal arrests of another six rights advocates on related charges. All eight advocates were detained in a sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers that started in July.
Critics said the unprecedented crackdown was aimed at silencing advocates and activists and stifling the burgeoning rights defence movement.
Lawyer Li Yuhan said on Wednesday that Wang was charged with “subverting state power” and held in the Tianjin No 1 police detention centre. Bao was charged with “inciting subversion of state power” and detained in Tianjin’s No 2 detention centre. Li said the arrest notifications were both dated Friday – exactly six months after they were first taken away.
READ MORE: Detained human rights lawyer, Wang Yu, on Chinese state TV informed of ‘failed attempt to smuggle son overseas’
She said Wang and Bao, who have been placed in “residential surveillance” – a form of isolated, solitary detention outside the jail that can last up to six months – had been denied visits from lawyers and deprived of the rights to communicate with the outside world and be informed about their cases.
