A 24-year-old female legal assistant of a respected Christian human rights lawyer in China has been released on bail after being held in detention for a year, says a media report quoting a police message sent out on social media.
As part of a large crackdown on civil rights activists, police took Zhao Wei from her Beijing home on July 10 last year, reported The Guardian.
Zhao worked for prominent human rights lawyer Li Heping, a partner of the Beijing Global Law Firm. Li was also abducted by police in July last year and his current whereabouts remain unknown.
Police in the city of Tianjin said via their Weibo account (China's version of Twitter) July 7 that Zhao has been released on bail.
The social media message said that she had made a "candid confession" to unspecified crimes and had a "good attitude."
William Nee, Amnesty International's Hong Kong-based China researcher, told The Guardian that Zhao was the victim of a "national security witch hunt" and that all charges should be dropped against her and other rights activists arrested in the recent crackdown.
Her employer, Li is a Christian who has spent his career defending those persecuted for their beliefs by the communist authorities, reported the BBC. Li also defended activists and other civil rights lawyers such as Chen Guangcheng and Gao Zhisheng.
