Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao has been closely following the case of three men in China who, Teng tweets, have been wrongly accussed of murder and sentenced to death. While the men started a hunger strike to protest their sentence, Teng took to Twitter to let the world know about their plight.
Teng asked for help this morning translating his tweets into English and LRF wanted to help out. See his tweets and our translation below:
#lpya Tweets from Teng Biao in Chronological Order (Oldest to Newest)
1. 景德镇监狱3名公民绝食仍在继续。江西乐平4名无辜公民被以故意杀人罪判死缓，多年申诉无果，方春平、黄志强和陈发根三人自23日早晨起开始绝食。要求还其清白。滕彪、许志永、李和平、张赞宁等多名学者律师长期关注此案。 #lpya
In Jingdezhen prison, 3 innocent men started a hunger strike yesterday morning to protest the death sentences they received from a murder case they have been appealing for years with no success. The case of Fang Chunping, Huang Zhijiang and Chen Fagen has been closely followed by Teng Biao, Xu Zhiyong, Li Heping, Zhang Zanning and other legal scholars for a long time.
2. 从1999年9月9日和2000年5月24日，江西乐平市连续发生了两次杀人、抢劫、强奸大案，乐平市公安局无法找到真凶，为了破案，对方春平等四人采取了残酷的刑讯逼供，生不如死，不得已违心承认。但被打出来的口供与其他物证之间没有任何关联。 #lpya
From September 9, 1999 to May 24, 2000, there were two consecutive incidences of rape, homicide and robbery in Leping city, Jiangxi Province. When the Leping Public Security Bureau was unable to find a legitimate suspect, they decided to detain Fang Chunping and 3 others, all of whom are unrelated to the case, and cruelly tortured them for days to withdraw a false confession.
(Read more after the jump)
3. ［景德镇监狱3名公民绝食］４人均有不在没有作案时间的证明。本案只有被告人供述，所有物证只能证明曾发生过这两起案件，但没有一个能证明凶案和4被告人有关。现场提取的烟头、血迹、毛发、衣裤，警方都没有做DNA鉴定。#lpya
[Hunger Strike in Jingdezhen Prison] Four people didn’t have an alibi for the time of the crimes. The case rested entirely on the testimony of the defendants, as the cigarette butts, bloodstains, clothes, and other material evidence from the scene, were never tested for possible DNA matches with the defendants.
4. ［景德镇监狱3名公民绝食］被告之一程发根受酷刑的情况，曾得到联合国关注。2007年我在监狱会见黄志强时，仍能看到他手上的伤痕。四人被用的逼供手法主要是：用手铐铐住双手，连续几天几夜悬吊，剥夺睡眠。严重时手腕骨头暴露，惨不忍睹 #lpya
[Hunger Strike in Jingdezhen Prison] The torture that one of the defendants, Cheng Fagen received has already received the attention of the UN. In 2007, while I (Teng Biao) was in prison to meet with Huang Zhijiang, I could still see the scars on his hand. The main method of torture was to deprive him of sleep by shackling his hands and hanging him from the chains for days on end. During the worst of the torture, his wrist bone was laid bare, a sight almost too horrible to endure.
5. ［景德镇监狱3名公民绝食］乐平死刑冤案，先后20多位律师参与，全部做无罪辩护。控方证据漏洞百出，比如：对被害人郝某，只找到半只胳膊，对其他“尸块”一无所获，请教万能的推友：仅凭半只胳膊，如何能够证明该人已死并且被人轮奸？ #lpya
[Hunger Strike in Jingdezhen Prison] Leping Miscarriage of Justice Results in Death Penalty: More than 20 lawyers defended the innocent plea, and argued that the prosecution’s case was riddled with loopholes. For example, in the case of the victim Hao Mou, the police recovered only half an arm and never the rest of the corpse. If your proof is only half an arm, how is that sufficient evidence to suggest Hao Mou is even dead, or, furthermore, that she was gang raped?
6. 请参加反死刑大会的中国代表关注被错判死刑的3名中国公民，正在景德镇监狱里绝食 #lpya #sixing RT @huanghan3: 刚到达CICG日内瓦国际会议中心,第四届反对死刑大会已经开始了
Please join the Chinese delegation in bringing attention to the 3 Chinese citizens currently on a hunger strike in Jingdezhen prison for their wrongful death sentences at the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty. #lpya #sixing RT@huanghan3: Just arrived to the CICG (Geneva International Conference Center) and the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty has already started.
7. 消息来源:我和其他几位一直关注此案的律师接到了绝食者的电话 #lpya RT @saltlakefirst: @tengbiao 腾先生，请问德[镇监狱里绝食]的消息从哪方面来的？
Update: I and several other lawyers following the case received a phone call from the hunger strikers.