Released Hong Kong bookseller 'is missing'

Last updated: October 24, 2017 at 18:35 pm

Gui Minhai - one of the five jailed "Hong Kong booksellers" - has been released from prison in China, according to the Swedish government.

He is a citizenship of the northern European country.

His daughter Angela has raised concerns, saying that no-one had seen him or spoken to him despite it being a week after his apparent release.

From his publishing house in Hong Kong, Gui sold books that centred around the elite in Chinese politicians, with a focus on their private lives.

He has been detained since 2015, after going missing in Thailand. He was found again in mainland China.

His daughter, Angela, said that the official reason that her father was behind bars – for his part in a fatal road accident in 2003 – was based on a forced confession.

Only one of the four other booksellers who were released has spoken publicly about their time behind bars, describing any confessions as coming from a script prepared by Chinese officials.

Angela Gui said that when Swedish officials arrived to collected Gui they were told he had already been released.

"Neither I nor any member of my family nor any of his friends have been contacted," she said in a statement.

"It is still very unclear where he is. I am deeply concerned for his wellbeing."