{"id":19217,"date":"2017-02-12T17:32:04","date_gmt":"2017-02-12T17:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/?p=19217"},"modified":"2017-02-12T17:47:15","modified_gmt":"2017-02-12T17:47:15","slug":"a-swedes-life-sentence-in-china-shines-light-on-a-dark-crevice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/?p=19217","title":{"rendered":"A Swede\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Life Sentence in China Shines Light on a Dark Crevice"},"content":{"rendered":"

George Karimi was the first European to receive a life sentence in China. He spent the first two years in a detention center without even knowing what he was accused of. Then he stood trial as the ringleader of a gang counterfeiting U.S. dollars. All this was news to Karimi, he said. He believes he was the subject of a political hit after one of his Chinese business associates got in trouble with the wrong Party boss.<\/p>\n

Karimi\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s recently-published book, \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Life Sentenced in China: A true Story of a Businessman in Chinese Prison,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d is a detailed account of the Chinese judicial and criminal justice system from the inside, and one of the few such documents to be produced by a Western pen.<\/p>\n

Karimi spent a total of 12 years in detention centers and prisons, after being arrested in Beijing in 2003. Prisoners come and go through Karimi\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s cell. Readers accompany him as he chats with inmates, police, other foreigners, Chinese CEOs of state-owned companies, and officials who have fallen victim to some of the same dirty tricks that Karimi says he was subject to. Everything is for sale in this China, including Karimi\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s own freedom.<\/p>\n

The book is full of absurdity. One of his cellmates, for instance, is a purged Party official who still praises the Communist Party after being sentenced to death by it.<\/p>\n

There are also the guards who order Chinese inmates to beat up an American prisoner, and then force inmates to make false testimony that the American started the fight. This leaves the American Embassy in the dark, unable to protest or provide assistance.<\/p>\n

The book has some weaknesses. Karimi does not attempt to hide his bitterness over the injustice he has been subjected to, and regularly describes his hatred of the police and the Party. It may have been stronger if he had simply told his story and let the facts speak for themselves. Background about his own life and what led him to business in China\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009din particular, whatever business he was in that led, incidentally or not, to the inside of a Chinese prison\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009dis absent or vague.<\/p>\n

These deficits are easy to overlook, though, and Karimi\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s bittersweet prison humor offers the occasional respite from the grimness of life on the inside.<\/p>\n

After seven\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0years, Karimi became the first Swede to be transferred from a Chinese prison to a Swedish one. He served more than five years there\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009din much more commodious conditions than in China\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009dbefore being released on Nov. 19, 2015.<\/p>\n

If you\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7re considering going to China for business, read this book first. You will quickly find that once you get to China, you\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7re on your own. Sweden was largely at the whims of Chinese authorities as to the treatment Karimi would receive, and had no insight whatsoever into the legitimacy of the criminal justice procedures that led to his extraordinary punishment.<\/p>\n

\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Life Sentenced in China: A True Story of a Businessman in Chinese Prison\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d is a worthy edition to the literature of Chinese human rights experiences and prison memoirs.<\/p>\n

By Cecilia Samuelsson<\/a>, Epoch Times<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Life Sentenced in China<\/h2>\n
A true story of a Swedish businessman in Chinese prison<\/div>\n
\n
\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093From business to a life sentence. My nightmare in Chinese jail and the ugly face of Chinese regime.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

Mr. Karimi\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s main goal in the Chinese prison has been a non-stop battle for his life, a Darwinian struggle to come out of that hell\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb while maintaining his own principles of human virtues and dignity!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Garo Hakopian\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0 President \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c The Assembly of the Armenians in\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0Europe<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

***<\/p>\n

George Karimi<\/strong> is a Swedish businessman of Armenian origin. He was sentenced to life in prison in China after one of his business associates was tortured and forced to accuse him of counterfeiting money. He spent seven years in Chinese jails until being transferred to Sweden in 2010; now, after a reduction of his sentence, he has been released in November 2015.<\/p>\n

In<\/strong> a letter written to the Swedish Parliament members<\/strong>, Mr. Garo Hakopian President of Assembly of Armenians in Europe points out that:<\/p>\n

\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093The purpose of this letter is not only to expose George Karimi\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s conditions in prison, but mainly to help you realize that his conviction does not concern a case of the common criminal law, neither does it concern an \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093economic crime\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d as the accusations state, and to show that it is a political case that has methodically been presented as such.<\/p>\n

George Karimi was born in Iran and is of Armenian descent. He is a person with high moral values and a particular respect for freedom and justice. He became interested in politics at a very early age and became energetically involved in political activities aimed at defending freedom and the human rights. He feels nothing but gratitude for the fact that he is a Swedish citizen, and please permit me to add, a good citizen too.<\/p>\n

Until his arrest in China in 2003, he has been an active member of Armenian associations in Sweden and Brussels. His activity in various European countries, particularly in Brussels, aimed at gaining an official state recognition of the Armenian Genocide on the part of these countries, and was conducted parallel to his operating an import-export company of his own, that involved trade between Sweden and China.<\/p>\n

His political activity and his alleged actions against the Chinese Authorities concern his offering information about the Armenian Genocide and a possible future recognition of this genocide by the Chinese government. Karimi\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s misfortune was that he was doing this at a time when China was undergoing great internal changes, and George became a scapegoat in the fight among rival political circles in the country. It is noteworthy that even after his transfer to Sweden, attempts have been made to keep his case in the dark, away from public opinion. One can\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7t help but wonder how it is possible to hide something like this from the media. Though it may sound incredible, still it is true that in a democratic country like Sweden there is actually a political prisoner!\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n

The complete letter in Swedish can be read at the following website:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/?p=7842<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

This faction is a flawless masterpiece, elegantly worded \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c oderly, emotive, and powerful like a Zen prayer bead.
\n<\/span>Chad Manian
\nLecturer in Economics, London.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

To purchase the book, click below:<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/uk.united-pc.eu\/books\/biography-politics-current-affairs.html?L=3&tx_mdprodukte_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=
\n20808&tx_mdprodukte_pi1%5Bpointer%5D=0&cHash=
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George Karimi was the first European to receive a life sentence in China. He spent the first two years in a detention center without even knowing what he was accused of. Then he stood trial […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19217"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}