China prosecutes dozens of people who posted leaked info of Xi's daughter

Beijing has prosecuted dozens of people, for leaking personal information of Chinese President Xi Jinping's daughter, on charges of illegally collecting personal information, according to a report by Kyodo News.

A 22-year-old man named Niu Tengyu, who is operators a website, has been declared as the main culprit by the Chinese authorities even though the lawyers and acquaintances of the accused continue to say that he was coerced into making a confession despite being innocent.

According to the Japanese news agency, this story dates back to mid-2019 when an overseas website posted a face photo, name, address, date of birth, identification card and mobile phone number, claiming it to be of Xi's daughter.

The Chinese authorities then detained people related to a website called "esu wiki," since July 2019 which shared the information. A few months later, as many as 24 people were convicted in December 2020 of public order turmoil and misuse of personal information.

"Niu, an operator of the "esu wiki" website, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, with the court saying he had "illegally" obtained personal information of a third party," the report said.

The report further stated that Niu was hung up with handcuffs and was tortured during the interrogation. According to Niu's lawyer, he was coerced into a confession.

( With inputs from ANI )