Wuhan Citizen Journalist Fang Bin Released from Prison for Exactly One Year. Recently, due to pressure from the Wuhan police, the house Fang Bin rented for a year in the Huangpi District of Wuhan was forcefully terminated, with water, electricity, and gas cut off, and the locks changed. He said he may end up homeless.
On May 1st, Fang Bin revealed to Radio Free Asia that he was recently forced to relocate by the landlord in the Huangpi District of Wuhan. On April 27th, the landlord cut off the water and electricity supply to the rented house.
“They (the police) knew I moved from Qiaokou District to Huangpi District, and they didn’t want me to live in Huangpi. They (the police) pressured the landlord to kick me out. The landlord said, ‘I can’t take it anymore, you need to leave quickly.’ Now I am wandering around everywhere,” he said.
Reports stated that Fang Bin signed a one-year lease contract with a landlord in the Huangpi District on April 15th and paid a year’s rent and property fees. Three days later, the local street office found out about this and notified the landlord to terminate the contract. “The landlord said he would refund me the money, begged me to leave. But the landlord didn’t dare say who pressured him,” Fang said.
A week after moving in, the landlord informed Fang Bin that he wanted to sell the house for 500,000 yuan, and later the new buyer pressured Fang Bin to move out. “I left on the 27th, the door was unlocked on the 28th, on the 29th, the water and electricity in my house were cut off, for three consecutive days on the 29th, 30th, and May 1st. This morning, they damaged my lock again, I can’t get in, the door is broken,” Fang Bin said.
Fang Bin said the Shazui Street office in Huangpi District felt his presence created “stability maintenance” pressure. “They think my presence here is ‘dangerous.’ They are overseeing me, incurring various costs, they just feel (I’m here) troublesome, one more person, one more responsibility. Now they are kicking me out, which is unfair, I signed a contract, why should I leave? If they want me to leave, they’ll have to compensate me, according to consumer law, it’s 3 to 10 times the compensation. Because the landlord can’t rent out and sell the house at the same time. He said the house has been sold,” Fang Bin explained.
There was no response from the Shazui Street office of Huangpi District government.
Fang Bin’s friend, Ms. Peng, said that since Fang Bin moved into his new home in mid-April, there have been frequent visits from petitioners and rights defenders, making the authorities feel threatened.
In February 2020, during the outbreak of the epidemic in Wuhan, Fang Bin revealed the true death toll through videos, attracting attention from the public. Later, he was arrested by local police and sentenced to 3 years in prison for “provocation and troublemaking.” April 30th of this year marks the one-year anniversary of Fang Bin’s release from prison.
In a previous report:
Wuhan Netizens Secretly Visit Hospital Witnessing 8 Corpses, Arrested That Night
On April 30th last year, Fang Bin was released and immediately sent to Beijing by the Wuhan police, then back to Wuhan by the Beijing police overnight. His family in Wuhan was threatened by the authorities and couldn’t accommodate him. At one point, he was homeless. Afterward, Fang Bin lived in the Qiaokou District of Wuhan but, due to frequent police checks, he moved to the suburban Huangpi District.
In a previous report:
Fang Bin Homeless After Release, Family Pressured Not to Shelter Him