Crackdown in the time of COVID-19
The Guardian reports:
The Chinese authorities have detained a prominent activist and legal scholar who issued a blistering attack on president Xi Jinping for mishandling the coronavirus crisis amid a nationwide crackdown on speech freedom.
Xว Zhรฌyวngย ่ฎธๅฟๆฐธ, a former law lecturer and founder of the social campaign New Citizens Movement, was taken away by police on Saturday evening while he was seeking refuge at the home of a lawyer in the southern city of Guangzhouโฆ
Law professor Xu Zhangrunย Xว Zhฤngrรนn ่ฎธ็ซ ๆถฆ, who also published a public critique of Xi, was placed under house arrest for days and now barred from the internet. At least two citizen journalists are reportedly detained.
See also:
- China Detains Activist Who Accused Xi of Coronavirus Cover-Upย / NYT (porous paywall)
- Chinese police detain fugitive rights activist Xu Zhiyong during โcoronavirus checkโย / SCMP
โJeremy Goldkorn
