Well-known Chinese dissident dies after being denied treatment

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Prominent Chinese human rights activist Cao Shunli, detained in September for staging sit-ins at the country's foreign ministry, has died, a fellow dissident and one of her lawyers said on Friday, after she was denied medical treatment in detention.

Cao's death is likely to trigger an outcry from China's fledgling rights community and criticism from the West, which has expressed concern about her case.

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"On Sept 14 ... she was perfectly fine and going to Europe for a trip. Now she's gone. Cao Shunli's wishes were never accomplished," dissident Hu Jia told Reuters.

Cao staged a two-month sit-in along with other activists outside the Foreign Ministry, beginning in June, to press for the public to contribute to a national human rights report.

She went missing in mid-September after authorities prevented her from flying to Geneva for a human rights training program. She was formally arrested in October on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking troubles", the watchdog group Human Rights in China said.

Cao's family saw wounds on her body, Liu Weiguo, a lawyer who has been acting for Cao, told Reuters, citing another of her lawyers, Wang Yu. But it is unclear how they were inflicted.

"The hospital is not willing to let the lawyer and the family look at the body," Liu said. (continued at link)

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-china-dissident-idUSBREA2D0RT20140314