Late Friday night, Twitter lit up with news that Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng had left the hospital where he had been holed up and was headed to the Beijing aiport to fly to the U.S.
https://twitter.com/#!/AP/status/203731845924388864
https://twitter.com/#!/gillianwong/status/203727381024866304
https://twitter.com/#!/AP/status/203725030151028736
https://twitter.com/#!/NBCNews/status/203728431131787264
https://twitter.com/#!/michaelroston/status/203729302355845120
https://twitter.com/#!/michaelroston/status/203726031549509633
https://twitter.com/#!/YaxueCao/status/203703347474214912
A reminder of what Guangcheng’s family suffered:
https://twitter.com/#!/YaxueCao/status/202867245314084864
CHRD has learned that Chen Guangfu (陈光福), the elder brother of activist Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), was reportedly tortured while in the hands of Yinan County police in Shandong Province in late April. He is still suffering serious effects from the abuse, according to a reliable source within China. The abuses against Chen Guangfu represent the most physically violent treatment to surface so far among the spate of retaliatory acts towards those with links to Chen Guangcheng after his flight from house arrest. In addition to the reported torture, it is believed that Linyi authorities are maintaining tight controls over many of Chen Guangcheng’s other relatives, with their movements strictly limited as they live in a state of extreme fear.
In the early morning of April 27, Zhang Jian (张健), a head of Shuanghou Township (that has jurisdiction over Dongshigu Village), and accompanying thugs climbed over the wall to Chen Guangfu’s home and banged on the front door, eventually seizing Chen and blindfolding him before dragging him away. Chen was taken to the Yinan County Public Security Bureau, where he was questioned mainly about how Chen Guangcheng escaped—and subjected to several hours of torture. Authorities handcuffed Chen Guangfu and shackled his legs, slapped him, and then whipped his hands with a leather belt, struck him in the ribs, and stomped hard on his toes. At this time—nearly three weeks later—Chen still reportedly has not regained any feeling in the area stretching from his left thumb through his wrist, and his right foot also remains numb.
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We’ll update with developments throughout the weekend.
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Update 3:23am –
https://twitter.com/#!/SkyNewsBreak/status/203737896623157249
https://twitter.com/#!/Nathan1Sky/status/203737335660158977
Update 7:30am –
https://twitter.com/#!/AnnCurry/statuses/203805030770421760
Update 3:15pm –
https://twitter.com/#!/Reuters/status/203924360543748098
Update 5:58pm –
https://twitter.com/#!/SenJohnMcCain/status/203961633024909312
Update 6:31pm –
Chen Guangcheng and his family arrive in the United States.
https://twitter.com/#!/AP/status/203976541883994114
https://twitter.com/#!/markknoller/status/203976645739151360
https://twitter.com/#!/MississippiMama/status/203978986592808962
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Previous Twitchy coverage:
Romney calls Obama’s handling of Chen Guangcheng situation ‘dark day for freedom’
Obama/Clinton face Twitter outcry over Chen Guangcheng
Friend of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng tweets about China’s threats to family
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