AFP, Beijing :
China prosecuted almost 1,400 people for political offences in 2013, the vast majority in secret, an advocacy group reported Thursday as the ruling Communist party continues a crackdown on dissent.
A total of 1,384 people were indicted on charges of “endangering state security”, an increase of 32 percent on the previous year, the US-based Dui Hua Foundation said.
It was the second-highest year on record for state security indictments, it said, behind only the 1,407 of 2008 when the figure was swollen by Tibetan protests.
Citing statistics from China’s central prosecution office, Dui Hua also said 937 people were arrested in 2013, but it was not clear how many of them were included in the indictments figure.
Another US-based group, Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), issued a separate report Thursday detailing the alleged torture and illegal detention of artists and activists in three Chinese cities.
The offence of “endangering state security” replaced that of “counter-revolution” in the 1990s, and is primarily aimed at suppressing political dissent, but also applies to espionage.
China prosecuted almost 1,400 people for political offences in 2013, the vast majority in secret, an advocacy group reported Thursday as the ruling Communist party continues a crackdown on dissent.
A total of 1,384 people were indicted on charges of “endangering state security”, an increase of 32 percent on the previous year, the US-based Dui Hua Foundation said.
It was the second-highest year on record for state security indictments, it said, behind only the 1,407 of 2008 when the figure was swollen by Tibetan protests.
Citing statistics from China’s central prosecution office, Dui Hua also said 937 people were arrested in 2013, but it was not clear how many of them were included in the indictments figure.
Another US-based group, Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), issued a separate report Thursday detailing the alleged torture and illegal detention of artists and activists in three Chinese cities.
The offence of “endangering state security” replaced that of “counter-revolution” in the 1990s, and is primarily aimed at suppressing political dissent, but also applies to espionage.
