Jojje OlssonToday, Swedish authorities confirmed that publisher Gui Minhai was released from Chinese jail last week, October 17, two years after his disappearance.
Gui was kidnapped by Chinese security agents 17 October 2015, and had since not been able to communicate with his family or given the right to legal representation.
Even though Gui Minhai is said to have been released for one week, his daughter Angela Gui – or other family and friends – strangely has not yet been contacted by him. This is a recent update from her Twitter account:
#GuiMinhai has been disappeared again, likely by the Chinese government.
— Angela Gui (@angelagui_) October 24, 2017
Please see the PRESS STATEMENT from Angela Gui below (Swedish will follow):
Press statement 24/10 2017
Around two weeks ago, the Swedish embassy in Beijing were informed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that my father was to be released on 17 October. The reason given for this was that he would then have served his two-year sentence for the alleged traffic crime which supposedly took place in 2003.
Today it has been a week since October 17 and I still do not know where my father is. Upon receiving the news of his release being imminent, the embassy sent senior officials to the place my father is said to have been held and where Swedish consular officers visited him on three occasions. However as they arrived in the morning of the 17th, an official told them that my father had already been released at midnight. They were also told that he was ‘free to travel’ and that they had no idea where he was.
Six days passed with no news as to my father’s whereabouts. Neither I nor any member of my family nor any of his friends have been contacted. Then on Monday the Swedish Consulate General in Shanghai received a strange phone call from someone claiming to be my father. He was speaking Swedish and claimed that he intended to apply for a Swedish passport in one or two months, but that before doing so he wanted to spend some time with his mother ‘who is ill’. To my knowledge my grandmother is not ill. My father is not in fact with her. It is still very unclear where he is. I am deeply concerned for his wellbeing.
This week I have slept with my phone on my pillow waiting for my father to call. I will continue to do so until he does.
Hence, it is not clear how ”free” Gui Minhai is now, why he has not contacted his family and friends, or when he will be allowed to return to travel to Sweden or Hong Kong.
—
Pressmeddelande på svenska:
Pressmeddelande 24/10 2017
För omkring två veckor sedan informerades den svenska ambassaden i Peking av det kinesiska utrikesdepartementet om att min pappa skulle frigivas den 17 oktober. Anledningen man angav för detta var att han då skulle ha avtjänat sitt tvååriga straff för den påstådda trafikolycka som ska ha ägt rum år 2003.
Idag har det gått en vecka sedan den 17 oktober. Jag vet fortfarande inte var min pappa befinner sig. Då ambassaden fick höra att han snart skulle släppas reste representanter till platsen där pappa enligt uppgift satt fängslad och där representanter från ambassaden tidigare besökt honom tre gånger. När de anlände på morgonen den 17 blev de tillsagda av en tjänsteman att han redan släppts vid midnatt. Han visste inte var pappa var men hävdade att han var ’fri att resa’.
Sex dagar passerade sedan utan någon ny information. På måndag fick det svenska generalkonsulatet i Shanghai ett märkligt samtal från någon som sade sig vara pappa. Han talade svenska och sa att han avsåg att ansöka om svenskt pass snart, men innan dess ville han spendera tid med sin mor ’som är sjuk’. Min farmor är inte sjuk. Min pappa befinner sig inte hos henne. Varken jag eller andra familjemedlemmar har fått någon information. Det är fortfarande mycket oklart var han befinner sig. Jag är djupt oroad över hans situation.
Under veckan har jag sovit med telefonen på kudden i väntan på ett samtal från honom. Jag fortsätter göra det tills samtalet kommer.
Det är alltså ännu inte klart varför Gui Minhai inte har kunnat kontakta familj och vänner, eller när han kommer tillåtas resa tillbaka till Sverige.
