Imprisoned labour activists:

Photo Credit: Website of New Citizens Movement

 

Liu Shaoming –– Liu was a member of Beijing’s Workers Autonomous Federation during the Tiananmen Square Protests in 1989 and played an active role to support the students. After the June Fourth Massacre, he was sentenced to one-year imprisonment and deprivation of political rights for one year, and put under surveillance for one year, for “crime of instigating counter-revolutionary propaganda”. In recent years, Liu has participated in various labour actions and organized a team of volunteers to safeguard workers’ rights. They were involved in a dozen of labour actions, such as actions of cleaning workers in Higher Education Mega Centre in Guangzhou, Xinsheng Shoe Factory, Guangzhou Citizen Watch Co. Ltd. and etc. In April 2015, he published two articles to commemorate the victims of June Fourth Massacre and recollect his memories of the Tiananmen Square protests. These two articles and his WECHAT messages became materials for the authorities to charge him with “inciting subversion of state power”. In mid-April 2016, he was tried at the Guangzhou Intermediate Court. Over a year has passed since his trial and no verdict has been delivered. In other words, Liu Shaoming has been given an endless imprisonment in disguise.

 

Photo Credit: Website of New Citizens Movement

 

Meng Han –– Meng Han worked as a security guard at No.1 Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and took part in a labour action, which caused him to serve a sentence of 9-month imprisonment. After his release, he joined the Panyu Migrant Workers Services Centre to continue his fight for workers’ rights. On 3 December 2015, Guangdong Provincial Government launched a crackdown against labour activists and Meng was the only person which was sentenced without suspension. The verdict stated that Meng’s involvement with the labour disputes in Lide Shoe Factory was "gathering crowds to disrupt public order" and sentenced him to 21-month imprisonment. By now, Meng has been detained for 16 months and his family has never been allowed to visit him throughout his detention, By doing so, the authorities have bluntly violated the domestic and United Nations’ provisions on the rights of prisoners.

Back to article list