Five women’s rights activists are being held illegally in
Beijing because the police have failed to ask prosecutors to formally arrest
them. According to Chinese law, the police are generally required to file a
request for a formal arrest to prosecutors within 30 days of detaining someone
if they want to continue the detention. According to their lawyers, the
deadline for that was Tuesday for the five women. As the lawyers checked with
the prosecutor’s office, they discovered that no applications had been filed
meaning that it has become overtime detention and that they police have
violated the law. The lawyers also
stated that the police were investigating the women on suspicion of “picking
quarrels and provoking trouble”, a charge that can result in a multiyear prison
sentence and a method often used to silence dissenters. Although it is unsure
as to why the women who were arrested in Guangzhou and Hangzhou ended up at the
Haidian Detention Center, which is in western Beijing. The five women were
detained in a coordinated move starting the evening of March 6, they had been
organizing peaceful nationwide protests that would have taken place around
March 8, International Women’s Day, to denounce sexual harassment on public
transportation. The detention of the five women has ignited international
criticism of China. Petitions have circulated widely online and around the
world protesters have stood on streets wearing masks that have photographs of
the women’s faces.
I think it’s ridiculous and inexcusable that these women are
receiving no answers. First of all, the cause that they were raising awareness
about is completely validated; women shouldn’t have to worry about sexual
harassment on public transportation. That’s outrageous. It’s about time that
women’s rights be recognized globally, and that we actually do something about
it.
Brittany Schrum
03/08/15
10:37AM
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