Resolution on the 10th anniversary of the detention of jailed Swedish publisher Gui Minhai in China

The European Parliament adopted by 546 votes to 3, with 44 abstentions, a resolution on the 10th anniversary of the detention of jailed Swedish publisher Gui Minhai in China.

The text adopted in plenary was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, Renew, Greens/EFA and The Left groups.

Swedish citizen Gui Minhai, publisher and co-owner of the Mighty Current publishing house in Hong Kong, known for publishing works critical of the Chinese leadership, was abducted in Thailand in October 2015 and subsequently detained in China.

In February 2020, Gui Minhai was secretly sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Chinese court for ‘illegally providing intelligence abroad’. Gui Minhai continues to be denied family contact, raising serious concerns about his state of health after a decade of detention.

Parliament reiterated its call for Gui Minhai’s immediate and unconditional release. The Chinese authorities are called on to:

- allow him immediate access to independent medical care of his own choosing, as well as unhindered access to his family, a legal representative of his choice and consular officials;

- end the censorship, harassment and intimidation of publishers, writers, journalists and academics;

- end the practice of arbitrary detention and forced confessions, and to immediately release all those detained for exercising fundamental freedoms, including lawyers, journalists, artists, minority representatives and human rights defenders.

The resolution called on the EEAS, the Commission and the Member States to continue raising his case at all levels of EU-China relations, ensure the protection of EU citizens abroad, and urged China to release Gui Minhai and provide information on his condition and whereabouts.

Lastly, Members strongly urged China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Text adopted by Parliament, single reading