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| Jiang Tianyong with his wife, Jin Bianling. (Photo: ChinaAid) |
ChinaAid
(Zhengzhou, Henan—Oct. 5, 2018) The sister of imprisoned human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong traveled to China’s central Henan province on Sept. 14 before the Mid-Autumn Festival to visit her brother, reporting that he wept upon not being able to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.
Jiang Jinping, Jiang Tianyong’s sister, said she traveled alone, since her parents couldn’t obtain train tickets because of the holiday. She reported that her brother’s mental health appeared to have improved, but he is still on medication, including anti-hypertensives and heart rate reduction pills.
After arrest, Chinese officials often give human rights attorneys pills, claiming illnesses they have no history of having. Jiang Tianyong’s memory is deteriorating severely.
Jiang Jinping also said, “The day I visited him was his daughter’s birthday, so he looked unhappy. He hasn’t been able to celebrate his daughter in the past few years … He feels upset and frustrated. He was so emotional and mushy—tears in his eyes—that he couldn’t talk.”
“Mid-Autumn Festival is coming, so we all miss him. He is in jail, and we are all worried about him and his life in prison. However, we can do nothing.”
Jiang Tianyong went missing in November 2016 while on his way home from visiting the wife of then-imprisoned human rights lawyer Xie Yang. The next month, a state-run newspaper claimed that he was arrested by police for “illegally possessing state secrets ….” He was later accused of “inciting subversion of state power.” On Aug. 22, 2017, he stood trial, where he was forced to plead guilty. Three months later, local authorities announced that he had received a two-year sentence and deprived of political rights for three years. He decided not to appeal.
ChinaAid exposes abuses, such as those suffered by Jiang Tianyong and other lawyers, in order to stand in solidarity with the persecuted and promote human rights, religious freedom, and rule of law.
ChinaAid Media Team
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