Asia-Pacific News
Chinese rights lawyer held in Xinjiang province
Jan 1, 2012, 13:26 GMT
Beijing - Leading Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng has been imprisoned in the far north-western province of Xinjiang, the US human rights organization China Aid said Sunday.
In December, China imposed a three-year prison sentence on Gao and a Beijing court said he would have to serve his sentence because he had violated the terms of his probation, which ended last month.
Gao's older brother, Gao Zhiyi, received a letter on Sunday saying his brother had been imprisoned in Shaya Prison in Xinjiang, China Aid said. The letter was dated December 19.
The United States, European Union and the United Nations have called on China to release Gao, who had campaigned on behalf of farmers, dissidents, Christians and AIDS activists.
Gao, who is a critic of China's ruling Communist Party, disappeared temporarily in April 2010. He was also arrested and imprisoned in February 2009.
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