Lu Guang, awarded three times with the World Press Photo, was arrested in the Muslim region of Xinjiang
Lu Guang, in an image from July of this year – Lu Guang
Pablo M. Ten
@PabloDiez_ABC
Beijing correspondent
14/12/2018
Just as feared, the famous chinese photographer Lu Guang, who had been missing since the beginning of last November, has been arrested in the remote and troubled Muslim region of Xinjiang, to some 4.000 kilometers west of Beijing. This was confirmed to the newspaper this Thursday « South China Morning Post» his wife, Xu Xiaoli, who lives in the United States.
According to what he told said medium, The police had contacted Lu's family to notify them of his arrest in Xinjiang., but without explaining the reasons. «We cannot say what the accusation is», the woman indicated, that he had hired a lawyer to go to Xinjiang to see the detainee. Although the lawyer had asked the authorities for permission to meet with the photographer, your request has not been granted, Xu detailed.
To his 57 years, Lu Guang is one of the most renowned photographers in China, where have you been documenting from? 1993 its harshest reality. Yours are, For example, the overwhelming images of sick people consumed to the bone in AIDS towns and of smoking chimneys in the most industrialized areas of the country.
Such striking snapshots, reproduced by media around the world, they have earned the award World Press Photo on three occasions (2004, 2015 and 2017) and other awards such as National Geographic, Henry Nannen and W-Eugene Smith Grant.
reeducation camps
But not even this international recognition has helped the photographer to free himself from the growing repression in China., especially in the rebellious Muslim region of Xinjiang. This is practically off-limits territory for journalists because, according to some studies reported by the United Nations, the Beijing regime keeps there one million Uyghurs confined in reeducation camps, the native ethnic group that aspires to independence.
After denying it at first, The authorities have recognized the existence of these fields, which it calls vocational training schools to prevent Islamist radicalization.
Regardless of the number of prisoners, reduced by official Chinese media but without giving a specific figure, What is really alarming is that they have been locked up without committing any crime.
At the invitation of a friend, who has also been arrested, Lu Guang arrived in the capital of this turbulent region, Urumqi, he 23 October. He then traveled to Kashgar, the legendary Silk Road stop on the border with Central Asia, and finally returned to Urumqi on 3 November. That day he lost track of him until, the last day 6, The Chinese Police informed his family of his arrest.
Suspecting that he had been arrested in Xinjiang, Both the Hong Kong Correspondents' Club and other prestigious Chinese photographers had publicly asked the authorities for information..
Breaking your silence, The Police have acknowledged his arrest. But now it remains to be seen what he is accused of and what compromising photos for the regime he has taken in Xinjiang..
