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Chen Guangcheng's brother describes beating by officials
Chen Guangfu says Chinese authorities tried to make him reveal how his sibling escaped from house arrest
Chen Guangcheng's brother describes beating by officials | World news | guardian.co.uk
Chen Guangfu says Chinese authorities tried to make him reveal how his sibling escaped from house arrest
The brother of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has told reporters how he was chained to a chair and beaten for three days to make him reveal how his sibling escaped from house arrest in the Shandong countryside.
Chen Guangfu described his ordeal in an interview with a Hong Kong magazine as his son, Chen Kegui stood accused of attempted murder for fighting back against a similar beating.
A team of independent lawyers who have offered to represent the defendant were dismissed by the authorities and told not to speak about the case.
Chen Guangfu told a reporter from iSunAffairs.com that local officials came to his home after his brother fled late last month from his home village of Dongshigu to the US embassy in Beijing.
"They put me on a chair, bound my feet with iron chains and locked my hands with handcuffs behind my back," he said, according to a transcript of the interview released to the BBC.
"They pulled my hands upwards forcefully. Then they slapped me in the face," he said.
"They first asked me if I knew what this was about. I said 'I don't know', So they beat me and slapped my face. Only on one side, not the other. And they trampled my feet."
He tried not to implicate others by initially claiming all the responsibility for the escape. But he said the interrogators seemed to know who had been involved so it was ultimately impossible to resist.
His wife, Ren Zongju, also described how officials attacked her son.
"They started fighting inside the house. So many people were beating him. His face was bleeding, and his legs. His trousers were ripped," she was quoted as saying. "He said to me 'Mum, I need to get out immediately'. We had 1,000 yuan... So I picked it up and gave it to my son."
The report is difficult to confirm. Journalists have been turned away from Dongshigu and neighbouring villages. But it fits with Chen Guangcheng's telephone statement to a US congressional hearing earlier this week in which he reported a "pattern of abuse" against his relatives.
The blind activist is now in a Beijing hospital, where he is being treated for colitis and injuries sustained during his escape. Under a deal between the US and Chinese governments, he expects to be given permission to study in New York. US authorities say visas for Chen and his family have been prepared. The Chinese side has told him that passports and travel permission will be ready in 15 days.
"I am not worrying. For sure I can get my visa within two weeks," Chen told the Guardian on Friday. "My worry now is for my family. The local police have confessed that they beat [my nephew] Chen Kegui so his fight back is just self-defence."
It is unclear which family members will be allowed to travel to the US with the activist. Although his wife and two children are certain to go, an official said there were also discussions about whether his mother might join them.
Chen's mother is now 78, and suffers from arthritis and coronary heart disease. According to Chen, local officials previously prevented her from getting medical treatment and followed her when she went out to buy food. But now, she is free to walk around in the village and chat to neighbours.
The activist says he is in daily phone contact with her, but that she does not want to go to New York because she is concerned about those that would be left behind. "She is worried about my extended family, especially her grandson, my nephew Chen Kegui," he said.
A senior lawyer defending the activist described to the Guardian last week how he lost his hearing in a beating by a senior state security official after he tried to visit Chen Guangcheng in hospital.
Chen Guangcheng's brother describes beating by officials | World news | guardian.co.uk