Chinese human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, a long-time advocate for the “New Citizens’ Movement,” has been sentenced to 12 years by the Chinese Communist Party and is currently detained in Jiangbei Prison in Hubei Province. His family recently learned that the prison has deprived him of rights such as outdoor time and communication. Ding Jiaxi’s wife, Luo Shengchun, expressed deep concern about her husband’s health and demanded immediate improvements in the prison conditions.
Luo Shengchun, who currently resides in the United States, stated that the family was recently allowed to visit Ding Jiaxi and discovered that his rights to outdoor time, family phone calls, and communication had all been restricted.
The prison informed the family that Ding Jiaxi is a “political prisoner,” therefore must avoid contact with other prisoners and can only have outdoor time under supervision. The timing of outdoor activities is entirely determined by the prison. Luo Shengchun believes that this violates the minimum treatment standards set by the United Nations, which require at least one hour of outdoor activity for prisoners each day; it also goes against human rights conventions banning torture and inhumane treatment.
Luo Shengchun told Epoch Times, “I know that outdoor time is crucial for health, and I have been emphasizing to the prison that outdoor time must be guaranteed. However, they have been evasive and delaying, claiming they cannot confirm my identity and refusing to respond.”
Prior to this incident, Luo Shengchun had sent books to Ding Jiaxi, but the prison returned them. The letters she sent were opened and reviewed page by page, and any pages related to Bible verses were confiscated by the prison.
Luo Shengchun protested against this, stating that it infringes on freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
The prison also prohibits Ding Jiaxi from calling her and demands that she personally verify her identity at Jiangbei Prison. “The excuse the prison gave me was that I couldn’t call him from overseas. I argued that I pay for calls on my own cell phone, but they (the prison authorities) did not agree.”
Ding Jiaxi has long been collaborating with legal scholar Xu Zhiyong to promote the “New Citizens’ Movement.” In 2013, both were first imprisoned on fabricated charges and were released in 2016 and 2017 respectively. After their release, they continued to be involved in public affairs, drawing the authorities’ suspicion. In 2019, they were arrested again in connection to the Xiamen gathering incident. In 2023, Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were sentenced to 14 years and 12 years respectively on charges of “subverting state power.”
Luo Shengchun expressed that the persecution in prison would severely harm her husband’s health. She urged the public to pay attention to the situation and demanded immediate improvements from the prison authorities.
Luo Shengchun said, “More than ten years of imprisonment, with six and a half more to go, I cannot let them destroy his body. He tries to comfort me, saying that it’s okay no matter what happens to him. But with the intensified actions of the prison, we cannot allow this to continue.”
#Lawyer Ding Jiaxi in Jiangbei Prison
He has been kept indoors, denied outdoor time, restrictions on buying books, letters sent to him are returned, my letters to him are opened and missing pages are confiscated. He is not allowed to call me or any family members in China.
I called the director of the prison’s administration department, Mr. Xin, questioning why they are mistreating Ding Jiaxi when he has not committed any crimes. Why bully him like this? Isn’t harming others without benefiting yourself, fearing retribution? He said he is just doing his job, accusing me of threatening him…