Chinese cyber-dissident Lu Gengsong, a former lecturer turned activist, has been detained by police in eastern Zhejiang province, a rights watchdog group said Sunday.
Lu, 51, was picked up at his home on Friday in the city of Hangzhou as part of a crackdown ahead of this year's Communist party congress and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said in a statement. Police searched his home and seized the hard disks from his and his daughter's computers, the group said. His wife was detained for three hours and then released.
The family was told that Lu is under questioning on charges of inciting subversion of state power and illegally holding secret documents, the group said.
"We are aware of the government's persecution of rights defenders in the lead up to the Congress and before next year's Olympics and we are paying close attention to this," the group said. Despite China's pledge to ease curbs on media and individual freedoms ahead of the 2008 Olympics, human and media rights groups say the leaders in Beijing continue to tighten their crackdown on dissent amid increasing social unrest.
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