CHINA:THE HUSBAND of an activist who has campaigned for the rights of those evicted from their homes to make way for Beijing's Olympic makeover, said yesterday he is worried about his wife's health as she languishes in prison.
Ni Yulan is awaiting a trial that has been delayed so as not to cause negative publicity during the Games.
Ms Ni, a former rights lawyer who was disbarred in 2002, is due to be tried for "obstructing official business". The diminutive 58 year old is accused of attacking a hired thug who came as part of a gang to force her out of her home in April. The crime carries a maximum punishment of three years in jail.
"My wife told me she is missing the family, and our son, who is 24 years old. She is worried about our home and she was not feeling well. I am quite worried about her health," said Dong Jiqin.
Ms Ni has spent almost a decade assisting victims of forced eviction in the Chinese capital. Hundreds of thousands of residents have been evicted and their homes demolished in the course of Beijing's Olympic makeover.
She has previously spent a year in jail, and was beaten so badly that she now needs crutches to walk.
The couple were arrested on April 15th when a wrecking crew of 18 strong-arm heavies knocked down the wall surrounding their house in Qianzheng hutong, or laneway, in the central Xicheng district of Beijing. They were accompanied by a plainclothes police officer, Mr Dong said.
They called the police, but these kind of forced evictions rarely respect due process or the law, and the police did nothing to stop the hired thugs. When Ms Ni tried to protect her home, she was struck on the head with a brick and dragged to the ground.
"Suddenly, one of the gangsters lay down and pretended he'd been attacked. At the same time, the police came back and accused her of attacking the thug," said Mr Dong.
He believes his wife is in jail to keep her out of circulation ahead of the Olympics and says she has been mistreated in prison, repeatedly beaten during her detention. Her trial, which was due to take place on August 4th, has been deferred until after the Games.
During her detention this time, police forced her to crawl to the toilet.
"They threw her down on the sofa and accused her of attacking a police officer. She weighs less than 45 kilograms," he said.
Mr Dong is under constant surveillance by half a dozen police officers. "I got a letter from my wife and they opened it and threw it at my house," he said.
Meanwhile, the International Federation of Journalists has called on authorities in Nanjing to allow an appeal for journalist Sun Lin, who writes for the US-based website Boxun News under the pen name Jie Mu and was sentenced to four years' jail on June 26th for "disturbing the social order" and "concealing a weapon".
Chinese police received 77 applications to stage protests in Beijing in specially designated "protest parks" during the Olympics and none were approved although only one was rejected outright.
To fend off accusations it is trying to smother dissent, China designated three parks in Beijing to be used for demonstrations, provided the protesters applied for permits five days in advance and met a set of other conditions.
Meanwhile, activists say China has stepped up repression in its ethnic Tibetan regions to prevent any protests during the Games.