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China activist lawyer¡¦s wife seeks his
whereabouts
AP, BEIJING
Friday, Feb 19, 2010, Page 1
The wife of an activist Chinese lawyer missing for more than a year challenged
claims by authorities in China that he was working in a remote western region of
the country and had been in touch with relatives, a human rights group said
yesterday.
The case of Gao Zhisheng (°ª´¼ÑÔ), one of China¡¦s most daring lawyers, has drawn
international attention for the unusual length of his disappearance and for
earlier reports of torture he said he faced from security forces.
Gao, a self-trained lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, took on highly
sensitive cases involving the banned Falun Gong spiritual group and advocated
constitutional reform.
¡§For a very long time I have not heard from him, and I do not know where he is
now,¡¨ Gao¡¦s wife, Geng He (¯Õ©M), said in a statement released by the New
York-based group Human Rights in China.
Her statement comes after a San Francisco-based human rights group, the Dui Hua
Foundation, said last week it was told by the Chinese embassy in Washington that
Gao was working in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang region, and had been in touch
with his wife and relatives.
Dui Hua did not say what kind of work Gao was allegedly doing or where he was
staying. Urumqi is about 2,900km west of Beijing.
¡§Unless the Chinese government truly makes good on what it is declaring to the
outside world and allows my husband to get in contact with me directly, I have
no way of verifying his current whereabouts and whether he is safe and free,¡¨
Geng said.
Gao¡¦s brother, Gao Zhiyi (°ª´¼¸q), has said he doesn¡¦t know where his brother is
and had no luck getting information from Beijing police.
Geng and her two children now live in the US after being accepted as refugees.
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