Sweden says Chinese-born dissident publisher Gui Minhai freed

Minhai kidnapped in 2015 while on vacation in Thailand and has been detained at undisclosed location in China

STOCKHOLM: Sweden on Tuesday said China has released Swedish dissident publisher Gui Minhai, who wrote political gossip books about Chinese leaders, two years after he was kidnapped while on holiday in Thailand.

"We have received information from the Chinese authorities that he has been released," Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman Sofia Karlberg told AFP, without specifying when Minhai had been freed.
However, his daughter Angela Gui expressed doubt about his release in a statement, saying she and her family have not heard anything from him or about his whereabouts.

 

"Neither I nor any member of my family nor any of his friends have been contacted," Gui said in a statement.

"It is still very unclear where he is. I am deeply concerned for his wellbeing," she said.

#GuiMinhai has been disappeared again, likely by the Chinese government.

— Angela Gui (@angelagui_) October 24, 2017

On Twitter, she wrote: "Gui Minhai has disappeared again, likely by the Chinese government."

Getting lots of questions right now and I want to emphasise that while we have been told #GuiMinhai has been released he is NOT free.

— Angela Gui (@angelagui_) October 24, 2017

Minhai is a 53-year-old Swedish citizen and a Hong Kong publisher who often wrote about Chinese leaders from the Communist Party.



He was kidnapped in 2015 while on vacation in Thailand and has been detained at an undisclosed location in China ever since.

In 2016, Minhai appeared on Chinese television and was purportedly forced to confess a traffic violation.