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Jailed Chinese activist's health sparks concern

Ni Yulan has growing tumor: parole request rejected
Jailed Chinese activist's health sparks concern

Jailed Chinese activist Ni Yulan

Published: July 08, 2013 04:45 AM GMT
Updated: July 07, 2013 08:18 PM GMT

Jailed Chinese activist Ni Yulan’s health is deteriorating, according to the UK-based rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

Ni’s problems include an untreated thyroid tumor detected last year, CSW said, adding that her daughter, who visited her last month, noticed that it had grown considerably.

Her family and lawyer applied for medical parole last October but the application was rejected in March, CSW said at the weekend.

Ni, a Christian and a practicing human rights lawyer, was arrested during a crackdown on dissent in April 2011 and went on trial that December.

Last April the BBC reported that she had been jailed for two years and eight months for “picking quarrels, provoking trouble and willfully destroying private and public property.”

Her husband, Dong Jiqin, was jailed for two years. Last July, her sentence was reduced by two months after a fraud charge was dropped.

The couple began campaigning for housing rights in Beijing in 2001, providing legal help for people whose homes had been seized by the government.

The following year Ni was arrested and beaten. She was left severely disabled by this treatment and unable to walk without crutches, CSW said.

Amnesty International said her kneecaps and bones in her feet were broken while in custody.

In December 2011 Ni was awarded the Dutch government’s Tulip Award for human rights defenders. Her daughter, Dong Xuan, was to receive the award on her behalf but was prevented from leaving China. 

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