Fellow Prisoners Beat Up Dissident

Fellow prisoners severely beat dissident Wei Jingsheng after being promised reduced sentences if they attacked him, human rights advocates charged Thursday.

They said the beating seriously worsened Wei’s already poor health. The 46-year-old Wei, China’s most famous dissident, is serving a 14-year sentence at a prison in northern Hebei Province near Beijing for advocating democratic reforms.

Labor camp and jail officials often encourage prisoners to beat fellow inmates, especially political prisoners, as a form of punishment. Protests rarely result in any action on behalf of the victims.

Because of injuries to his neck, Wei now is unable to hold his head up without using his hands, his family said.