Taipei [Taiwan], August 9 : Chinese prosecutors are deliberating whether to impose a jail sentence on human rights lawyer Lu Siwei and to arrest citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, as reported by US-based VOA News.
Human rights activists argue that these renewed campaigns against Lu and Zhang are a part of the broader campaign of the Chinese government to muffle voices of dissent, VOA News reported.
"Beijing is trying to warn dissidents that if they try to defend the rule of law or freedom of expression, they could be arrested or imprisoned," Bob Fu, founder of the Texas-based human rights organization ChinaAid, told VOA by phone.
Zhang Chunxiao, Lu's wife told VOA that since her husband was released from bail, the Chinese police have heightened surveillance around him and have banned him from leaving the city of Chengdu without prior approval.
"The authorities have deployed eight to nine people to monitor him around the clock and he is followed by someone whether he is taking the metro or getting into a taxi," VOA reported, quoting Chunxiao.
Lu is a lawyer who has handled high-profile cases. He tried to flee from China last year but was arrested and detained by Laotian police despite having a valid US visa and Chinese passport and was deported to China.
"Since the conviction rate in China is more than 99%, I think Lu will likely be prosecuted for some crime... His case shows that under Chinese President Xi Jinping's rule, even a peaceful human rights lawyer would be arrested in a foreign country for trying to reunite with his family in the United States," VOA reported, quoting Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at Freedom House.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a written statement that China abides by international law and "fully respects the law enforcement sovereignty of other countries", VOA reported.
"There is no transnational repression," Liu Pengyu, the embassy's spokesperson, told VOA.
Zhang was sentenced to four years of imprisonment for covering the initial lockdown in Wuhan during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a post on WeChat, she said that the Shanghai police warned her of arrest if she crossed certain "red lines".
Zhang also said that she remains aware of possibly being followed and added that the authorities have confiscated her passport, VOA reported.
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