DETAINED PUBLISHER ‘ADMITS WRONGDOING’
Gui Minhai accuses Sweden of sensationalising case
DETAINED book publisher Gui Minhai has surfaced nearly three weeks after disappearing into police custody in China, confessing wrongdoing and accusing his adopted country Sweden of manipulating him like a “chess piece”.
It was unclear whether the Chinese-born Gui’s statement was genuine or made under duress, but a video of his confession shows him flanked by two police officers in a scene likely to prompt accusations of official coercion.
The Chinese-born Gui, 53, was arrested on a train to Beijing last month while travelling with two Swedish diplomats — the second time he has vanished into Chinese custody in murky circumstances.
Sweden, the European Union and the United States have called for Gui’s release, with Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom on Monday calling his seizure “brutal”.
But Gui accused Sweden of “sensationalising” his case.
“I have stated that I do not want Sweden to continue to sensationalise what has happened to me. But, Sweden has not stopped doing so,” he said in the video.
“I felt that it was necessary for me to come out and say something.”
Gui was travelling by train to Beijing from the eastern city of Ningbo, where doctors had said he might have the neurological disease ALS.
He was to see a Swedish specialist in the capital, but was arrested.
Gui said on Friday that Swedish officials had pressured him to leave China despite being barred from doing so due to pending legal cases.
“I have declined a few times. But because they were instigating me non-stop, I fell for it. “Looking back, I might have become Sweden’s chess piece. I broke the law again under their instigation. My wonderful life has been ruined and I would never trust the Swedes ever again.”
Chinese criminal suspects often appear in videotaped “confessions” that rights groups say sometimes bear the hallmarks of official arm-twisting.
Gui said no doctors had diagnosed him with ALS, saying “I think Sweden has exaggerated this and manipulated (me).”
“I have seen through the Swedish government. If they continue to create troubles, I may consider giving up my Swedish citizenship.”