Apr 17, 2007, 9:31 GMT
Beijing - Police have arrested environmental activist Wu Lihong, who has fought for years against the pollution of Taihu Lake in eastern China, his wife and a friend said Tuesday.
Dozens of police stormed Wu's apartment Friday night in Zhoutie near Yixing in Jiangsu province and detained the 39-year-old, his wife, Xu Jiehua, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone.
'Around 50 to 60 policeman besieged my house, and they smashed my door and broke in,' Xu said.
'They searched everywhere in my house, including every book, every corner and even the roof space,' she said.
Officers took away Wu's computer, camera, photo album, credit card and other belongings, she added.
When Xu went to the local police station, she was told that Wu was accused of 'blackmail and extortion,' she said.
Xu said she was on her way to Beijing to find a lawyer to defend her husband.
A friend said Wu was initially accused of contacting foreign media
'Neighbours and friends tried in vain to prevent the arrest,' the friend said.
Wu has worked for years to uncover illegal water pollution by businesses and has denounced the inaction of corrupt officials. He has repeatedly been arrested and threatened.
'Wu Lihong told me around one week before his detention that the [city] propaganda department and public security department had been to talk with him many times to try to persuade him not to make complaints,' his friend said.
Local officials said they were forced to travel to Beijing to 'put out the fire' caused by Wu's environmental activism, he said.
'Wu said to me around one month ago that the PSB [public security bureau] had begun to investigate his business partners and his friends who worked as public servants,' the friend said. 'After the investigation, the PSB came to talk to him, and one week after that, he was detained.'
Wu grew up beside Taihu Lake, the third-largest freshwater lake in China, which is located in the Yangtze Delta plain on the border of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
The pollution in the lake is serious near Yixing, Wu's friend said.
'Wu was puzzled and shocked that Yixing was applying for the title of model city for environmental protection,' the friend said
Wu began lobbying the central government early last year, arguing that Yixing had in fact failed to meet environmental protection standards.
Despite his protests, the national environment protection bureau awarded the title of model city to Yixing in November.
Wu called the bureau to ask why they gave the title to Yixing and was told that the Jiangsu provincial government had informed it that Wu would not raise any objections, his friend said.
The two friends were 'shocked by the results' of their call to the environmental protection bureau and decided to gather more evidence for a legal challenge, he said.
Wu took scores of photographs and nearly 100 samples of polluted water, and the friends had planned to take their case to a Beijing court on April 22, World Earth Day.
'I want to ask, as he was detained only 10 days before April 22, is that really a coincidence?' his friend asked.
Taihu is known for its fish industry and as a tourist attraction because of its scenic beauty, but it is also highly polluted.
The lake provides much of the drinking water in the thickly populated area despite it worsening pollution, caused by discharges of wastewater and from factories.
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