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I torsdags fik Wo Weihan overraskende besøg af sin datter i fængslet. Han blev glad. Ingen af dem vidste, at han skulle henrettes fredag morgen.

Jeg har lige skrevet denne korte nyhed til Berlingske, men jeg følger op på sagen senere. Hvis du allerede har læst nyheden kan du springe ned i artiklen og læse udtalelsen fra de to døtre.

Den 59-årige læge og forretningsmand blev i 2007 idømt dødsstraf for at spionere for Taiwan. Blandt andet ved at diskutere kinesiske lederes helbred og videregive militære oplysninger til Taiwan.

Han tabte sin appelsag i februar i år, og fredag blev han skudt i Beijing.

Diplomater fra både USA, EU og Østrig forsøgte at få henrettelsen udsat. Iagttagere og menneskeretsorganisationer har kritiseret sagen for at være lukket og uigennemsigtig.

»Blandt andet har anklageren haft adgang til materiale, som forsvareren ikke har set,« siger Joshua Rosenzweig. Han er senior manager i Dui Hua Foundation, som er en amerikansk organisation, der overvåger kinesiske retssager.

Joshua Rosenzweig peger blandt andet på, at Wo Weihan var afskåret fra at tale med sin advokat i ti måneder.

Wo Weihans to døtre er østrigske statsborgere. Den ene af dem, Ran Chen, bor sammen med sin mand i USA. De var rejst til Beijing, da de kinesiske myndigheder fortalte dem, at Wo Weihan snart ville blive henrettet.

Ran Chen mødtes med sin far i fængslet torsdag morgen.

»Han var overrasket og glad for at se hende,« fortæller Michael Roluf, der er gift med Ran Chen.

»Ingen havde fortalt ham, at han måske skulle henrettes. Han troede, at sagen gik fint,« siger Michael Roluf over telefonen fredag middag.

Den anden datter fløj fra Østrig, men kunne ikke nå frem til mødet.

Torsdag får familien via den østrigske ambassade at vide, at de kan mødes med faren igen fredag. Men det møde bliver aflyst. Og i løbet af fredagen vil de kinesiske myndigheder hverken be- eller afkræfte, at de har henrettet Wo Weihan.

Først klokken 17.00 fredag får familien at vide, at Wo Weihan blev skudt om morgenen.

Jeg har ikke kunne få fat på Michael Roluf igen, men her er en e-mail, som jeg fik fra ham fredag aften. Det er døtrenes officielle statement:

Today, our beloved father, Wo Weihan, was executed.

On Thursday morning, I visited my father at the Second Intermediate People’s Court in Beijing. He had not been informed about any decision by the Supreme Court. He was surprised and very happy to see us. Because he did not know about a looming execution, he was hopeful and did not leave any final words or will with our family. Because we also had received no written confirmation from the Supreme Court on the status of the case, we allowed ourselves to hope with him.

After the visit, the Austrian embassy wrote a note verbal to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking for a second visitation because 1) we could not say goodbye to our father 2) my sister flew in from Austria and could not see our father on Thursday morning. On Thursday afternoon, around 4pm, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the Austrian Embassy, informing Ambassador Sajdik and Deputy Ambassador Scholz that our family will receive a second visitation right and should apply for visitation through the Beijing High Court. We were very thankful for this opportunity, especially my sister. We expressed our gratitude and our hope in a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday morning, my sister and I called the court and spoke with the staff member who is responsible for foreigner’s requests at the Beijing High Court. She was not informed about this visitation right and promised to verify this information and get back to us. However, we haven’t received any feedback and tried to call the court throughout the day.

At 5p.m. today, we were informed by Austria’s deputy ambassador Stefan Scholz that the Chinese MFA gave him the confirmation that the execution had taken place in the morning today. According to our information, he was executed by gunshot.

We are deeply shocked, saddened, disappointed and outraged. We, the family, have not been granted the most fundamental and universal right of information about what was happening with our father. Throughout these four years since our father’s arrest, the family was kept in the dark. We were left in the hope that we could see our father one more time. The execution was carried out in secrecy while we hoped. My father could not leave any final words with us, and we could not say good bye to him.

Not only was my father put to death, but also our hope in the Chinese justice system.

Is it not enough that a person, who allegedly committed a non-violent crime and who pled innocence until the very last moment, is put to death? Why does the family have to be punished in this inhumane and degrading way?
Yes, my father was a Chinese citizen and is subject to Chinese law. But the Chinese law also says that death row prisoners deserve the right to see their families before execution, to say goodbye and to go in peace. My father could not go in peace and our family will be forever haunted.

Everyone deserves the right for information about what is happening to his or her loved one, across all national boundaries, races and cultures. The misinformation to Austria and the EU presidency is deceptive and disgraceful.

My sister and I grew up in China until we were teenagers. We were brought up by Chinese parents who taught us the value of “Xiao”, the gratitude for one’s parents, and the concept of “Qin Qing” – the highest of all love, the love between father and daughter, mother and son. The legal procedures in China, which we experienced in these last traumatic days, show no regard for these values. Our hearts are bleeding.

Our father was condemned by the Chinese courts, but we will love, respect and remember him forever.
Ran Chen & Di Chen

Mere læsning om sagen. Her er artikel fra New York Times, Los Angeles Times og Guardian og udtalelse fra den østrigske regering.