Civil Society Supporter Wang Gongquan Criminally Detained in Crackdown

Chinese Human Rights Briefing
 
September 13, 2013

 
Arbitrary Detention
 
Wang Gongquan, Government Critic & Supporter of New Citizens’ Movement, Criminally Detained in Crackdown
 
On September 13, Wang Gongquan (王功权), a prominent entrepreneur and government critic, was criminally detained in Beijing on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disrupt order of a public place,” continuing the Chinese government’s months-long crackdown against rights activism. Wang, who in recent years has taken a great interest in the development of China’s civil society, is a close supporter of Xu Zhiyong (许志永), the legal advocate who was arrested on August 22, and has backed the New Citizens’ Movement, a grouping of activists that Xu has spearheaded since 2011. Wang’s family has been notified of his detention, and he is being held at the Beijing No. 3 Detention Center, where about a dozen others with ties in the movement are also being detained. More than 20 police searched Wang’s home in the capital before taking him into custody.
 
Since late March, Chinese authorities around the country have seized New Citizens’ Movement participants and other activists who have called for transparency about the financial assets of top Chinese leaders, among other advocacy goals. CHRD has confirmed that nearly 60 individuals have been detained in the authorities’ clampdown on peaceful assembly and association.[1]

See CHRD’s website for further background and case details on the ongoing crackdown.

[1] “Wang Gongquan, Supporter of New Citizens’ Movement, Criminally Detained” (新公民运动的支持者王功权被刑事拘留), September 13, 2013, WQW;  “Prominent Entrepreneur, Passionate Supporter of Social Welfare Wang Gongquan Taken Away in Beijing, Has Home Searched” (著名企业家热心公益事业者王功权被北京警方带走并抄家), September 13, 2013, WQW