China Jailing Dissidents and Photograph Takers

From here (Reuters) – Chinese police have detained a prominent rights lawyer suspected of “creating a disturbance,” and another who had said he was being followed is thought to have been taken into custody, the latest examples of a sustained crackdown on dissent. Meanwhile, a retired Chinese man who took photographs of police officers at a proposed pro-democracy “Jasmine Revolution” protest in Beijing was sentenced to labor re-education, in the second confirmed punishment in less than a week for the Middle East-inspired gatherings that were squashed by wary authorities. Dozens of Chinese rights lawyers, activists and grassroots agitators have been detained or have lost contact with friends and relatives since February, when fears of contagion from Middle East and North Africa uprisings triggered a crackdown by China’s domestic security apparatus. Detained lawyer Ni Yulan, 49, was not involved with promoting the online calls for pro-democracy “Jasmine Revolution” gatherings that have recently led to a sweeping crackdown on dissidents, a person close to Ni, who declined to be named, told Reuters by telephone. “She has nothing to do with it. She can’t move at all, so there’s no way for her to participate. She was very careful about not getting involved,” the person said. Ni, who is known for defending the rights of people evicted from their homes, was left disabled by a police beating in 2002 after filming the forced demolition of a client’s home, and then jailed. Read the rest here http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/15/us-china-dissent-idUSTRE73E1HB20110415