Fu Shenqi, a veteran pro-democracy campaigner and prisoner of conscience, was administratively sentenced without trial in July 1993 to three years’ “re-education through labour”. His appeal against his detention is to be heard in court on 9 November, but it will reportedly be held in secret, and Fu Shenqi himself may not be allowed to attend. It would be his first chance to defend himself before a court. Li Liping, his wife, has been told that she will not be allowed to attend the hearing. The two lawyers hired to make her husband’s case have complained that they have not been given access to enough documentation to prepare an appeal. His prison conditions are said to be very harsh.
