China frees blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng

Chen Guangcheng

Blind Chinese human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng and his family are on their way to the US tonight after the authorities released them from Chaoyang Hospital in Beijing. Cheng had been kept there for three weeks after making a daring escape from his own house, where he had been imprisoned for 19 months by officials in China's north-eastern Shandong Province. At first he sought refuge in the American embassy for several days, but he left for the hospital when it became clear Chinese officials would send his wife and two children back to Donshigu if he refused to come out.

Chen Guangcheng spent years representing and defending the interests of the disabled and rural poor. He angered government officials when he exposed a program of forced abortions and sterilizations linked to China's one child policy.

Cheng has been offered a fellowship at New York University. Before leaving China he told reporters he was sad and had complicated feelings about his situation. In particular he is concerned about the safety of the relatives he has left behind.

Women's Rights Without Frontiers has been leading the international coalition to free Chen since president Reggie Littlejohn first testified concerning Chen at the European Parliament in 2008. She said: "This is the moment we've been working for, waiting for and praying for, for years. I can hardly believe it has finally arrived."

She thanked all those who supported the campaign and said: "Most of all, I would like to thank the many courageous citizens of China who have been beaten and detained because of their support for Chen. They are real heroes."

She added, "We will continue to monitor and advocate for Chen's family and friends who remain in China, especially his nephew, Chen Kegui, who has wrongfully been accused of attempted murder when thugs attacked him and his family in their own home."

For more information see: www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org