State media said that claims on Xie Yang's torture are fake. (Photo : Twitter)
Claims from Jiang Tianyong, are classified as fake, according to Chinese state media. Tianyong is defending detained activist Xie Yang.
Tianyong, a disbarred lawyer, and China's rights activist, said that Xie was being tortured while in detention, and convinced Xie's wife to make up stories of abuse. The wife, later on, confessed that she was told to lie.
The testimony was published by the New York Times. Xinhua later categorized it as "fake news."
Xinhua published the statement and wrote, "The stories are essentially fake news."
Other state-owned media outlets released photos of Jiang Tianyong smiling behind bars. He did not release any comment.
Patrick Poon, the China researcher at Amnesty International, said that the statements from Xinhua and Global Times are "probably borrowing it from Donald Trump's attack on major Western media."
Another activist, Sarah Cook from the Freedom House, said that the claims of the state media are "a propaganda strategy, to muddy the water surrounding these allegations."
She added, "The whole thing strikes me as very suspicious.
Jiang's wife now lives in the United States. Her husband was detained many times for defending Tibetans and followers of the Falun Gong cult.
He could not be reached by his family and he does not have access to legal representation.
His lawyer, Qin Chenshou, said, "Jiang Tianyong was a highly experienced attorney, he would not do things that violate the law."
A panel of experts from the United Nations looked into Jiang's case. The panel stated, "Over the past years, we have received information that Jiang has been arrested, detained, and beaten by the police and state security officers on multiple occasions as a result of his human rights work."
Meanwhile, Xinhua posted a tweet on the issue of Xie Yang which read, "Investigations reveal 'torture stories' about Chinese lawyer Xie Yang are nothing but cleverly orchestrated lies."
