Devastated parents of detained Chinese human rights lawyer protest against 'torture' of their son by police during his secret detention

An elderly couple in China has protested against the alleged torture of their lawyer son after he was detained by police for taking human rights cases.

The devastated parents wore large signboards bearing slogans including 'oppose torture, save my son' during a demonstration outside a police station in the city of Baoji on Monday, according to their online post.

Their son, 36-year-old Chang Weiping, is known for defending the rights of people facing discrimination in the country. He was taken away by police officers on October 22 after revealing details of his torture on YouTube, it is reported.

Chang Weiping's father shared a picture on Twitter-like Weibo of him and his wife standing outside the Gaoxin branch of the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau in protest

Lawyer Weiping (above, pictured before the detention) is known for defending the rights of people facing discrimination in China. He had already been detained once in January

In one of the appeal letters posted by Weiping's father on Twitter-like Weibo, the 70-year-old man urged the government to investigate five police officers for allegedly torturing his son during interrogations earlier this year.

The pensioner, Chang Shuanming, also demanded the authorities allow him to live with his son who is currently under 'residential surveillance in a designated location' on suspicion of 'inciting subversion of state power'.

'Residential surveillance in a designated location' is a form of extrajudicial detention lasting up to six months where detainees are denied access to lawyers and relatives and are vulnerable to torture and coercion.

Weiping was taken away by police officers in the city of Baoji on October 22 after revealing details of his torture on YouTube, it is reported. He is currently detained in an unknown place

Apart from the letters, Shuanming shared a picture of him and his wife standing outside the Gaoxin branch of the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau in protest.

The image shows Shuanming wearing a placard around his neck, which has the Chinese writing 'oppose torture, save my son'.

His wife is seen carrying a signboard with the request 'living together with son according to laws'.

The couple were taken away by plainclothes officers five minutes later, reported US-based Chinese-language news website Radio Free Asia. 

Weiping caught the authorities' attention after regularly representing clients who were discriminated against due to their health status, gender and sexual orientation.

After attending a meeting with multiple human rights lawyers and activists to discuss China's current affairs late last year, he was detained on suspicion of 'inciting subversion of state power' in January, according to Amnesty International.

In a video released on YouTube in mid-October, Weiping described how he underwent 'extreme torture' by police officers during his 10-day detention.

He claimed to have been forced to sit on a restraining device known as a 'tiger chair' around the clock in a hotel room and was interrogated 16 times.

The lawyer said he still couldn't feel his index finger and ring finger on his right hand as a result of the physical punishment.

He added that he had been banned from leaving Baoji by police since January and constantly harassed by police after he was released.

Weiping and his family live in Baoji (seen in the file photo) in north-western China's Shaanxi

Six days after the publication of the video, Weiping was again forced into 'residential surveillance in a designated location'. He has been held at an unknown place until now.

'The fact that Chang was subjected to torture before and is being denied access to his family and lawyer increases the risk that he might be subjected to torture or other ill-treatment,' Amnesty International wrote in an urgent appeal for action to save Weiping in November. 

Weiping's father feared that his son could face more torture during his second detention.

The heart-broken parent pleaded in his letters to authorities: 'Weiping' mother and I request to live together with Weiping and undergo surveillance to prevent my son from being tortured further.

'My son has sat on the "tiger chair", and I demand to sit on too.'

Zhang Zhan , a 37-year-old former lawyer, has been arrested over reporting about the coronavirus outbreak from Wuhan. She was allegedly kept in restraints 24 hours a day

The news came a week after a former Chinese lawyer was allegedly kept in restraints 24 hours a day and force-fed by tube after going on a hunger strike in detention, her lawyer has claimed.

Zhang Zhan, who was arrested for reporting about the coronavirus outbreak from Wuhan, is facing up to five years in prison after being detained by police in May on suspicion of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble', a broad-brush charge often used against activists.

The 37-year-old citizen journalist, who was hailed for 'reporting the truth' of the epidemic, had to wear restraint belts day and night and have feeding tubes forcibly inserted into her mouth and nose, her lawyer penned in a blog.