China activists detained after meeting to pray for Tiananmen Square victims
Four activists were detained by Beijing police on May 31 after holding a secret meeting to pray for those who died during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
The prayer gathering was held ahead of the 27th anniversary of the tragic incident, which fell on June 4.
Among those arrested was Zhao Changqing, who was a college freshman during the 1989 protest. The three others were known civil rights advocates Zhang Baocheng, Xu Caihong and Ma Xinil. They were all taken at Zhao's home where the group met for prayer.
Caihong's husband was notified by police the following day that his wife had been arrested on grounds of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble."
"They told me she will be transferred to the Fengtai Detention Center today," he told Radio Free Asia. "They told me she would be locked up for at least 30 days, and that this could be extended."
Baocheng's wife said she was also informed by police about her husband's detention. When she complained that she was not given a formal notification, she was told that issuing notification was the responsibility of the district police and not the local police.
The sister of Xinil was likewise informed by the authorities that her brother was being held at Fengtai Detention Center.
Two more activists, Liang Taiping and Li Meiqing, who joined the prayer meeting are believed to have been detained as well, because calls to their phones have been left unanswered.
Police had been alert before the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, which the government considered as a form of "counterrevolutionary rebellion" and forbids any public gathering to commemorate the event.
June 4 marked the end of the peaceful 1989 Democracy Movement protests held in Beijing and other cities, but until now, the victims have not yet been brought to justice. No list acknowledging the names of those who died or were caught during the protest crackdown has been released, and no official figures of casualties have been given.
