China Activist Speaks out from Inside ‘Black Jail’
AP managed to speak with Zheng Dajing, an activist who was detained in a so-called black jail on Friday during activities to mark China’s “Legal Publicity Day”:
Zheng was being watched by a guard inside the locked room, who protested loudly at first to the interview but then walked away. Other guards earlier Saturday stopped Zheng’s wife from getting inside to see him.
Zheng said he and others were taken to Majialou, which Chinese Human Rights Defenders described as “a central ‘black jail’ for petitioners,” for processing before being taken to his current location, a dingy guesthouse with “Siyuan Hotel” spelled out in neon lights.
Zheng said he and three other people were being held there. A small tear in the plastic covering the door’s screen showed a flourescent-lit room with a water cooler.
At first, the guard behind the locked door said Zheng was not there, but Zheng then came to the door.
He said the guards hit his wife and pulled her hair when she tried to get inside to speak with him. Zheng’s wife, Cao Xiangzhen, said the same earlier Saturday.
Read more about “black jails” from CDT.
