Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that the issue of Gui Minhai is something the US government would normally be expected to address.
- But if the United States is absent, the EU must take the lead, make a stand for a Swedish book publisher or someone else who has been wrongfully imprisoned. It's about human rights, it's so important, we have to be loud. But I think our current government doesn't care, Clinton tells TT.
Gui Minhai ran a book publishing company that published satirical literature. He has been incarcerated since 2015, with a break of a few months, and he has now been sentenced to ten years in prison by the Ningbo Chinese court. According to the judgment he has provided foreign power with intelligence.
The verdict has been criticized from several quarters, including from Swedish publicists who see the verdict as a threat to freedom of expression.
"I am very concerned about what happens to democracy"Hillary Clinton says that during her time as Secretary of State she spent a lot of time on people imprisoned for criticizing her regime. She is concerned about political developments around the world that are moving towards more and more tribute to totalitarian ideals.
- I am very worried about what happens to democracy and how to keep it alive. People are sometimes tired of it, they want something new, they believe in conspiracy theories. Unless the US and Europe do anything, the authoritarian leaders will be more and more and it will lead to a very bad development, Hillary Clinton told TT.