A human rights group says a Chinese dissident serving a 20-year prison term is in such poor health he may not live to be released.
Human Rights in China says friends of Hu Shigen, 49, report that he has been transformed into an old man by harsh treatment during his 13 years in prison so far. The rights group says Mr. Hu is suffering from malnutrition, chronic pack pain, intestinal problems and a disfigured finger that was broken and never treated.
Mr. Hu helped to establish the China Freedom and Democracy Party in 1991 and was arrested in 1992 while planning a commemoration of those killed during the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. He was convicted of counter-revolution in 1994.
(Some information provided by Reuters and AFP.)