BEIJING: After the Chinese human rights Lawyer Lu Siwei was detained at the Thailand border in Laos while he was travelling to the United States, efforts have been escalated to prevent him from being sent back to China and almost certain imprisonment reported the Washington Post on Saturday.
As per the Washington Post report, advocates for Lu in Laos were hopeful they could secure a quick release after he was detained two weeks ago near Thanaleng train station, on the border with Thailand. Laotian authorities initially said it was a paperwork issue. But on Wednesday, after a week of appeals by human rights groups, that changed.
Lu’s lawyers were told the case is now a political one and has been escalated to the highest levels of government, according to Chad Bullard, the executive director of ChinaAid, a human rights nonprofit, who was present at the meeting.
Even if China has yet to formally comment on his case, Lu’s wife, Zhang Chunxiao, believes Beijing is almost certainly behind the detention and wants him returned to China.
The Washington Post quoted, “If my husband is sent back to China, it will be disastrous for him, our family and human rights lawyers,” Zhang said in an interview from the United States, where she now lives.