Political cartoonist Jiang Yefei has been subjected to mistreatment at the hands of the authorities since being handed back to Chinese authorities in November 2015, in a move that drew strong criticism from the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and human rights groups, his wife told RFA.
"This is the first news we have had of Jiang Yefei in the six months since he was forcibly repatriated ... and I am afraid ... that Jiang Yefei has been badly treated," Canada-based Chu Ling said in a recent interview.
Sichuan-based Jiang and Henan activist Dong Guangping were handed over by Thai police to Chinese authorities on Nov. 13, 2015, just days ahead of their planned resettlement as refugees.
Both men had been previously been persecuted for their rights activism, and were awaiting resettlement in Canada.
While their families have now been resettled in Canada, they are currently being held at the Chongqing No. 2 Detention Center, and face charges of "incitement to subvert state power" and "organizing the smuggling of persons across a national boundary."
London-based rights group Amnesty International has said it fears for the personal safety of both men, who have had no access to defense lawyers hired by their families.
Chu said police went to Jiang Yefei's sister's employer to put pressure on her, to force her to fire the human rights lawyer she hired for him, prompting his sister to strike a bargain.
"His sister told them she wanted to meet with him if she was going to fire her lawyer, and demanded to see her brother," Chu said. "So the authorities arranged for her to speak with Jiang Yefei by cell phone. His sister discovered during this conversation that one of Jiang Yefei's eyes had a white scar on it, and she asked who had beaten him up."
"The detention center said it wasn't them. I think it must have been the special case squad," Chu said, adding that she had noticed a similar scar in video of Jiang taken shortly after his arrival back in China.
"We also found out from that meeting that he has had lots of surgery on that eye," she said, adding that the family has now decided to speak out publicly about their fears.
"We have kept a pretty low profile up until now ... and we haven't really spoken out in the media. But we are losing faith, and they keep postponing his case, so we are going public with this now," she said.
Thailand-based activist Wu Yuhua said fellow political asylum-seekers in China are very angry over Jiang's repatriation and subsequent treatment.
"The authorities are really inhumane. All Jiang did was draw a few cartoons, and they treat him like this," Wu said. "We are all very worried and very angry."
Deposits refused
Meanwhile, supporters of Dong Guangping, who was repatriated to Chongqing from Thailand alongside Jiang, said they are being prevented from depositing money in his credit account at the police-run detention center where he is being held.
Chongqing resident Xie Dan said he had tried to deposit money for Dong on May 18, but without success.
"Dong Guangping's friends have been trying to deposit credit for him at the detention center, but the detention center is refusing deposits from anyone who isn't a relative," he said.
"In detention centers in China, the diet provided by the authorities is really poor, and they can't get enough nutrition in their diet, so they rely on people depositing money for them, so they can buy more to eat, and sending some basic necessities for their daily lives," Xie said.
"I have previously helped the friends of various prisoners deposit money for them, but this time, when I went to help out Dong Guangping, the detention center refused to allow it."
Xie said he had lodged a freedom-of-information request with the Chongqing police department on Monday, asking it to clarify the reason for this refusal.
Rights lawyer Chang Boyang, who was hired to represent Dong by his family, but who has been denied access to his client, said the authorities now claim Dong has hired a new lawyer.
"I was never fired, but the Chongqing court made an excuse, saying that Dong had already hired a lawyer, so they couldn't accept my application to be accepted as his attorney," Chang told RFA. "It's the same pattern as the one we have seen with the lawyers detained since July 2015."
"According to the rules for due legal process, his trial should have been completed in the court of first instance by now. I think the authorities are using a government-appointed lawyer to stop any information from getting out."
Reported by Xin Lin and Ding Wenqi for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.