China releases youngest human rights activist on bail

Chiqui Guyjoco Saturday, July 09, 2016

China released on bail Zhao Wei, the youngest human rights activist it detained last year during a nationwide crackdown on human rights defenders.

"The afternoon sunshine feels so nice. It feels so good to breathe freely," read a statement on Zhao's Weibo account posted Thursday, July 7, confirming official reports of her release.

Pro-democracy activist Lui Yuk-lin holds a portrait of Chinese human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang during a protest calling for the release of Pu and other political prisoners, outside the Chinese liaison office in Hong Kong July 6, 2014. | REUTERS/TYRONE SIU

Police authorities said they released 24-year-old Zhao on bail because of her "candid confession" and "good attitude."

"What crime did she commit?" a commenter wrote on the police force's Weibo post, according to The Guardian.

"History will judge you," said another commenter.

A year ago on July 9, the Communist state launched a nationwide offensive against its human rights lawyers and arrested at least 200 of them including activists. The following day, authorities arrested Zhao and Li Heping, a prominent Christian lawyer who had championed the weak and disenfranchised and whom Zhao had worked for as a legal assistant. Zhao, like most of the more than 20 others still detained, was charged with political subversion which could land them a lifetime imprisonment.

"I am quite happy with the news," Zhao's husband, You Minglei, told the publication and added, "but releasing her on bail doesn't mean the case has been closed."

Zhao, who her 61-year-old mother Zheng Ruixia recalled as "someone who hates injustice like poison" even as a kid and had a heart for the vulnerable as she found "so much inequality in society," had involved herself in social work particularly in the plight of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and in HIV awareness.

Zheng used to remind Zhao of how young she still was to get involved in activism but she only told her mother, "I am here to change society, not to get used to it."

According to the Associated Press, Ren Quanniu, Zhao's representative, believes the government may only be aiming to deflect public scrutiny on its nationwide political crackdown as it marks its one year anniversary. He also believes Zhao's alleged confession may have only resulted from a year-long unbearable pressure.

For now, Zhao chose to be silent and to enjoy her newfound, albeit temporary, freedom.

"It has been both a long and a short year. I have a lot of feelings but at this moment ... I just want to enjoy the peace and the happy days with my dad and mum," Zhao wrote.