CHINA:The wife of jailed activist Chen Guangcheng was stopped by police in Beijing yesterday as she tried to board a plane for the Philippines to collect Asia's leading human rights prize, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, on his behalf.
Yuan Weijing checked in at the airport but was subsequently told her passport had been revoked. She was detained at the airport, her supporters said, and whisked away. At the airport, she went missing for a while, before making a frantic phone call looking for help during the afternoon, saying she had been kidnapped.
Ms Yuan later telephoned from her village in Shandong province, where she had been brought by police. There were reports that she had been beaten up in Shandong.
Her husband, Chen Guangcheng, known as the blind, barefoot lawyer was sentenced to four years and three months' jail last year on what his supporters say were trumped-up charges of disrupting traffic and damaging property. His wife and lawyers say he was imprisoned because officials were angry at his exposure of forced late-term abortions in his hometown.
The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation named Mr Chen as one of seven winners this year, citing his "irrepressible passion for justice in leading ordinary Chinese citizens to assert their legitimate rights under the law".
Before Ms Yuan left there were signs the government was trying to stop her, with local officials saying her passport was invalid, even though she had an up-to-date visa and passport for travelling to the Philippines.
"She called to say they had been kidnapped and they had taken her video camera and digital camera, then the phone was cut off. They said that her passport was invalid," said Ms Zeng Jinyan, an activist whose husband Hu Jia has been under house arrest in Beijing.
Her supporters went to the police at the airport who insisted they had released Ms Yuan, but refused to show any video evidence to confirm she had not been picked up.
"Police kidnapped Yuan Weijing in the basement of the airport," they said.