Scholar roughed up by Chinese police for showing solidarity with laureate Liu

SYDNEY - A prominent human rights lawyer and one of the leaders of the Chinese Christian Legal Defense Association was harassed by Beijing police officers as he showed his support for Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

Fan Yafeng, who was manhandled into a police car by a policeman using martial arts, is still optimistic that the security-focused Chinese state ultimately will give more leeway to China’s growing civil society movement.

“Pressure from the grassroots and the international community is getting stronger,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Dr Fan, as saying on Wednesday.

He suffered minor injuries to his left hand in his police encounter on Tuesday night as he tried to give an interview about Liu’s achievement.

Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, is under effective house arrest and has said she doubts the government will allow her to leave China to accept the award on his behalf.

Dozens of Chinese scholars and political activists have been detained as they gathered or otherwise expressed solidarity with Liu.

Mo Shaoping, China’s most prominent human rights lawyer, said police had no legal grounds for detaining citizens who were celebrating “because they felt proud”.

“I hope winning [the Nobel Peace Prize] will speed up China’s democratization. China’s move towards democracy is like great flood and no one can stop it,” Mo told the Herald.

China’s state-run media have censored news of the Nobel Prize other than in a few outlets denouncing it. (ANI)