Chinese activist’s detention ordeal told

A Chinese lawyer convicted on subversion charges said he was subjected to harsh treatment by authorities and confessed in order to protect his family, according to recently released letters and a taped telephone conversation.

The letters and recording of Gao Zhisheng, released by a fellow activist, offer the most detailed account of his treatment since the fiery critic of the Communist government was arrested in August 2006, convicted and released into a type of house arrest.

In one letter, Gao says he was forced to sit in an iron chair for 109 hours. At other times during his five-month detention, Gao said, he was handcuffed or forced to sit cross-legged for hundreds of hours and had strong lights directed at him.

He also said he agreed to a public confession in exchange for $650 to give his family for living expenses.

Telephones at Beijing’s Public Security Bureau rang unanswered Tuesday. Gao’s descriptions of mistreatment are consistent with those of criminal suspects and other political dissidents. His family’s plight has been well documented by foreign reporters in Beijing.