Ahead of the 10-year anniversary of the disappearance of Swedish bookseller Gui Minhai, who is currently imprisoned in an unknown location in China on unsubstantiated “spying” charges, Amnesty International’s China Director Sarah Brooks said:
“Ten years after Gui Minhai’s disappearance, his case stands as a chilling warning to anyone who dares to write or publish ideas that fall foul of the government’s censorship machine.
“Gui’s abduction, prosecutions and convictions violate every principle of international law. His case is not an isolated injustice, but an early example of a deliberate pattern of repression that seeks to silence dissent and that doesn’t hesitate to reach beyond China’s borders to do so.
“Governments, in particular Sweden, other EU Member States and the EU itself, must not allow Gui Minhai to be forgotten. They should continue to publicly and consistently demand his release, exerting leverage through all tools at their disposal to urge the Chinese authorities to disclose his whereabouts and ensure consular access and the full protection of his rights.
“For a decade, China has kept Gui Minhai hidden from the world and, worse, those who love him — denying him regular access to his relatives, lawyers, and independent medical care. This cruel secrecy must end. Gui Minhai must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Background
Gui Minhai’s Causeway Bay Bookstore in Hong Kong was known for its books on Chinese leaders and political scandals which are banned in mainland China but popular with mainland Chinese tourists visiting Hong Kong.
He went missing in Thailand on 17 October 2015 – one of five Hong Kong–based publishers and booksellers who disappeared in late 2015 after publishing books critical of the Chinese government.
Gui reappeared on Chinese state media in 2016, giving an apparently forced confession to a hit-and-run several years earlier. He was released in 2017 but appears to have been under tight police surveillance, with his freedom of movement curtailed. He was seized by plainclothes police while travelling from Shanghai to Beijing for medical reasons with two Swedish diplomats in January 2018.
In February 2020, he was sentenced in a sham trial to 10 years in prison on charges of “illegally providing intelligence to foreign entities”. He remains in jail at an unconfirmed location and has been denied access to his family and Swedish consular officials. Chinese authorities claim that this is because he sought the reinstatement of his Chinese nationality – a claim belied by Swedish government statements confirming his desire to renew his identity documents.
His daughter Angela Gui has campaigned tirelessly for her father’s release and says she has faced intimidation from Chinese state agents in an attempt to silence her.
