BREAKING SILENCE

China Dissident Lawyer Describes Torture

Alleges he was kept in solitary confinement.

A leading Chinese dissident and human-rights lawyer broke his silence for the first time in five years to describe how he was allegedly tortured during his last period of detention, the AP reported Thursday. Gao Zhisheng, who has been in and out of detention since 2006, was released from prison to house arrest in August 2014. Gao, who is known for defending members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, said he was tortured with an electric baton to his face and spent three years in solitary confinement. “Every time we emerge from the prison alive, it is a defeat for our opponents,” the Nobel Peace Prize nominee told the AP at his home in Shaanxi province. The Chinese government has not responded to the allegations, but Gao’s wife said she hopes her husband’s case will be raised during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting with President Barack Obama this week.