Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Somewhere in China, blind attorney Chen Guangcheng will soon mark 1,000 days in prison since Chinese officials convicted him on bogus charges in retaliation for him speaking out against forced abortions. The abortions are part of the nation's coercive one-child policy for couples living there.

According to officials, Chen was convicted of "damaging public property and gathering people to block traffic" at an anti-government protest he reportedly never attended.

The real reason Chen is behind bars is because the attorney dared to represent the women and families of his hometown, Linyi, China, in a class action lawsuit against family planning officials for forcing thousands of people to submit to forced abortions or involuntary sterilizations.

Ian Lucus, a British columnist, is helping to organize a new campaign called "Friends of Chen" that is rallying Britons to speak out to the English government to do more to press China to release Chen.

"No matter what people's views on abortion are, surely no-one can believe that forced abortion is acceptable," he said in a new column in the Eastbourne Herald newspaper. "When he became aware of the severity of the one-child policy, and the forced abortions and sterilizations among couples with two children, he knew he had to take action."

"Recent reports talk about Chen being denied access to medical treatment, poorly fed and at times beaten. His wife, Yuan Weijing is also denied access to see her husband, and is under virtual house arrest, even though she has not been convicted of any crime," Lucas explained.

Lucas says that there will be an event on May 20 in London "to recognize Chens' 1000 days detention, and to call again for maximum pressure to be put on the Chinese authorities to release Chen."

Related web sites:
Friends of Chen - http://www.friendsofchen.com

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