(1/X) An update on the weird & fascinating “non-release release” (NRR) of the famous, disbarred rights lawyer #WangQuanzhang, who is being prevented from returning to his home and family in Beijing and kept in his former residence in Jinan.
(2/X) A local Jinan police station official told Wang's sister that Wang is required to stay there because he is under sentence of “deprivation of political rights” (DPR) for the five years after his “release” from almost five years in prison.
(3/X) This would be a far-fetched interpretation of the criminal punishment of DPR, as I pointed out in my last week’s pre-release op-ed in the SCMP. scmp.com/comment/opinio…
(4/X) Wang’s tenacious, brave wife @709liwenzu has openly ridiculed this DPR argument. Her well-publicized challenge to the administration of criminal justice will undoubtedly lead to a clarification of the scope of DPR in the next revision of China’s criminal legislation.
(5/5) The fuss made over @aiww Ai Weiwei’s illegal detention in 2011 led to a 2012 revision of criminal legislation relating to “residential surveillance at a designated location” (RSDL), which the police have subsequently abused.
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