BEIJING: The nephew of blind Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng was jailed for more than three years yesterday for attacking officials who descended on his village after the dissident fled to the US embassy, his father said.
Chen Guangchen, who was imprisoned after exposing abuses under China’s “one child” population control policy, caused a diplomatic row when he escaped house arrest in Shandong province and reached the US mission in Beijing.
As he was freed to leave for the United States, government officials and police descended on his village home, prompting his nephew Chen Kegui to attack them with a kitchen knife, wounding three people.
“He was sentenced to three years and three months, this is extremely unfair. There is no principle in Chinese law, I feel there is no hope,” Chen Guangfu, Chen Kegui’s father, said by phone from outside the courthouse.
“From what I understand, Chen Kegui will not appeal the sentence. They refused to allow me in to observe the trial, so there are a lot of details that I still don’t know about.”
Chen Kegui appeared thin but in good health at the trial, his father said, adding that another relative was allowed to observe the proceedings and sent news of the verdict to the family.
Court officials were not immediately available to confirm the verdict and sentence, which came after a three and a half hour trial. He had been charged with the crime of intentional injury.
The family has maintained that authorities barged into their home in the middle of the night unannounced and uninvited, and refused to identify themselves when the attack took place.
Chen Guangcheng won plaudits for investigating rights abuses in China.
AFP
