{"id":182680,"date":"2015-04-07T15:13:05","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T22:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=182680"},"modified":"2018-07-27T11:33:57","modified_gmt":"2018-07-27T18:33:57","slug":"after-30-days-detained-feminist-activists-await-news-of-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2015\/04\/after-30-days-detained-feminist-activists-await-news-of-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"After 30 Days, Activists Await News of Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

The five feminist activists\u2014Li Tingting, Wei Tingting, Wang Man, Zheng Churan, and Wu Rongrong\u2014who were detained in early March<\/a> for planning a campaign against sexual harassment have now been held for more than 30 days. At this point, authorities are required to either proceed with formal charges against them,<\/a> or release them. Radio Free Asia is reporting that police are recommending that prosecutors file charges<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Yan Xin, defense lawyer for Li Tingting, said the mental and physical conditions of the five women were pretty good.<\/p>\n

He said Li Tingting had told him that during the preliminary arraignment, police said they had sent the files of all five people to the prosecutor, and prosecution authorities would decide whether to formally arrest them.<\/p>\n

The cases of all five women have been reported to the procuratorate for permission for formal arrest and indictment, Yan Xin said.<\/p>\n

He also said Li Tingting was psychologically ready for her possible formal arrest. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The five have reportedly been subjected to intensive and frequent interrogations in detention. Andrew Jacobs of the New York Times reports on the women’s previous activism and their current situation<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the women say the police have repeatedly flouted Chinese law. In addition to denying the women medication, the authorities failed to notify their families about the detentions, and in one instance, the police sat in on a meeting between Ms. Wei and her lawyer, Wang Qiushi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe interrogations have been exhausting,\u201d Mr. Wang said by phone. \u201cThe police keep asking her the same questions over and over again and are pressuring her to sign a confession, which she refuses to do because she has not broken any law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The charge of \u201cpicking quarrels and provoking troubles\u201d carries a maximum five-year sentence in China, although it can be extended to 10 years if a defendant is convicted of organizing multiple public disturbances.<\/p>\n

Officials at the Haidian District detention center where most of the women are being held declined to comment.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, friends, relatives and fellow feminists are reeling. If the women are not released this week, it is likely they will be tried and convicted. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Human Rights Watch’s Maya Wang writes about Wu Rongrong and puts the detention in the context of a broader crackdown on civil society groups<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

What Wu and her colleagues are now enduring is consistent with a broader government effort to strangle independent activism. Authorities have harassed and detained an ever expanding list of activists, and imprisoned others, but they have also tried to co-opt some groups by allowing them to provide services the government finds acceptable, so long as they abandon their activism.<\/p>\n

This kind of “differentiated management” of nongovernmental organizations \u2014 punishing some but co-opting others \u2014 may work to neutralize some of the more outspoken groups. But ultimately the desires for change among ordinary people that make Wu and her friends’ campaigns so popular are unlikely to be answered through “authoritarian activism” alone. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The women’s supporters and associates in China have advocated for their release, though many have gone into hiding for fear of being detained themselves. Last week supporters sent a petition calling for their release and signed by more than 1000 people to authorities<\/a> in China. One group of supporters has taken photos of themselves wearing masks of the detained women and uploaded them to social media. For the Asia Society blog, Eric Fish interviews one of the activists involved with this campaign<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Can you talk a bit about your background and those of the other women making these photos?<\/p>\n

For safety reasons, I can\u2019t talk about our specific identities except to say that we\u2019re all feminist activists who have been paying attention to women\u2019s interests for a long time. We are from all walks of life; some of us are students and some are workers from various places. We got to know each other through following feminist friends on social media and other Internet channels.<\/p>\n

What prompted you to come together to create these photos?<\/p>\n

We\u2019re doing it to show solidarity with the women\u2019s rights advocates that were arrested without any legitimate reason. They\u2019ve done so much to promote women\u2019s rights and they\u2019re trying to make this country a better place with more gender equality. They have now been detained for one month and been deprived of freedom for one month. We hope through this activity to show our concerns and also make more people concerned for them. We want the five women to know that there are many people supporting them and we also want to show that it is impossible to arrest all feminist activists. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hillary Clinton joined other supporters around the world by tweeting a call for the activists’ release:<\/p>\n

\n

The detention of women's activists in #China<\/a> must end. This is inexcusable. #FreeBeijing20Five<\/a> Read this story: http:\/\/t.co\/qV3VNOgmyG<\/a><\/p>\n

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 7, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n