Wei Tingting, Wang Man, Li Tingting (aka Li Maizi) and Zheng Churan (aka Da Tu) were detained by police on 6 March and Wu Rongrong
the following day. On 12 March they were criminally detained on
suspicion of ‘picking quarrels and provoking troubles’, a charge often
used in China to suppress human rights defenders and activists and which
can lead to a sentence of up to five years in prison. The authorities
can now hold the women for up to 37 days before deciding whether to
formally charge them. A lawyer was able to visit them for the first time
on 12 March at Haidian Police Station in Beijing, after previously
being told they were not being held there.
The
authorities confiscated the women’s computers, phones, and materials
for events they were planning to mark International Women’s Day. Police
also raided Weizhiming Women Center office in Hangzhou, a women’s rights
NGO that Wu Rongrong founded and where Zheng Churan and Li Tingting are
staff.
All
of the women are members of Women’s Rights Action Group which advocates
women’s rights and campaigns against gender discrimination. Some of
them also work on LGBTI issues. They were planning to hold public events
calling for an end to sexual harassment on public transportation in
several cities in China on 7 March. They had made stickers printed with
“Stop sexual harassment, let us stay safe” and “Go police go, arrest
those who committed sexual harassment!” which they planned to distribute
at the events.
Click here for more information and addresses.
- March 9, 2015: "China: Five Women Detained After Planning Women's Day Events," AIUSA
- March 12, 2015: "5 Women’s & LGBT Rights Activists Detained in Escalating Clampdown on NGOs," Chinese Human Rights Defenders
- March 12, 2015: "Five Chinese feminists held over International Women's Day plans," The Guardian
