Wang Kouma (王扣玛)
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Wang Kouma 王扣玛
(released)
*Previously on medical watch
Crime: Creating a disturbance
Length of Punishment: 30 months
Court: Zhabei District People’s Court (Shanghai Municipality)
Trial Date: September 17, 2013
Sentencing Date: September 17, 2013
Dates of Detention/Arrest: September 25, 2012 (detained); November 1, 2012 (arrested); March 24, 2015 (released)
Verdict: Shanghai Municipal Zhabei District People’s Court Criminal Verdict (Chinese)
Date of Birth: July 17, 1954
Medical Condition(s): Hypertension, brainstem infarctions (stroke)
Place of Incarceration: Shanghai Municipal Prison General Hospital
Background
Shanghai police initially detained Wang Kouma on charges of “gathering a crowd to disturb order of a public place” but then convicted him of “creating a disturbance.” He was held for nearly a year before receiving a hearing, a prolonged period that violated China’s Criminal Procedure Law. Tried along with fellow activist Wei Qin (魏勤), police blocked dozens of supporters from attending their trial. Wang Kouma was convicted of organizing a memorial service in his late mother’s honor in January 2012. Wang’s mother, Teng Jindi (滕金娣), who petitioned for land rights, died mysteriously in a black jail in 2008, and he has since sought accountability from local authorities who he believes are responsible for her death. Wang previously served a two-year sentence for his activism.
Wang Kouma served his sentence at a prison hospital due to critical health conditions, but his family feared his life was in danger and that he was not receiving adequate treatment. Wang’s daughter submitted an application for medical parole on December 9, 2013, but local authorities did not respond to the request. Wang suffers from hypertension and had a stroke, or brainstem infarction, caused by an obstruction of blood to his brainstem. Wang is disabled as a result of the stroke. His health situation was so serious that he needed to be hooked up to an oxygen tank in order to appear in court in September 2013. One of his lawyers reported after a visit in December 2013 that Wang was bedridden and on an intravenous drip, and his overall health condition is dire. Doctors in the Shanghai prison hospital where he was held diagnosed him with multiple infarctions in his brainstem. Wang’s daughter submitted an application for medical parole on December 9, 2013, but local authorities did not respond to the request. On March 24, 2015, authorities released Wang at the end of his sentence.
*CHRD’s Watch List of Detainees and Prisoners of Conscience in Need of Medical Attention
Further Information