UK Mayor and City Council Leader Support Human Rights of Practitioners

The Lord Mayor of the UK city of Nottingham, Mr Ian Malcolm, and the Leader of the Nottingham City Council, Mr Graham Chapman offered their support to the campaign to free Wenjian Liang, a sister of a UK Falun Gong practitioner Jane Liang. Ms Wenjian Liang was sentenced without trial to 2 years in a labour education camp in Guangzhou in February 2000 for peacefully practising and supporting Falun Gong. She has been tortured and forced to work long hours. Her family has never been informed of her sentence or the charges. Letters or faxes to the labour camp have never been answered and Jane Liang was refused a visa for visiting her sister.

The Leader of Nottingham City Council, Mr Graham Chapman, wrote to the Mayor of Guangzhou city and the Governor of Guangdong Province and raised his serious concern over the alleged human rights violations against Wenjian Liang. He also requested that the human rights abuses be investigated. The Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Mr Ian Malcolm, has raised Wenjian's case, together with Mr Graham Chapman, to Chinese officials visiting Nottingham.

Wenjian Liang's labour camp ordeal generated much sympathy and outrage in the local area. Many Amnesty International groups in and around Nottingham have supported the campaign to free Wenjian Liang by organising letter writing actions and seminars. Several local and national newspapers published articles highlighting the case.