Inhumane treatment

A Thai prison has subjected a Chinese gambling tycoon to “inhumane treatment,” according to his lawyers.

Thai authorities arrested She Zhijang in Bangkok in 2022 for running illegal gambling operations in Southeast Asia. The arrest came as the result of an international warrant and an Interpol red notice sought by Beijing.

kept in solitary confinement, chained, denied medical treatment for a spinal injury

She’s lawyers have contacted Interpol to inform them of his mistreatment. They claim he has been kept in solitary confinement, chained, denied medical treatment for a spinal injury, and denied contact with his family. He is supposedly unable to walk because of his treatment.

She, who says he is a Chinese spy, argues that the arrest was politically motivated. He says that he has received unwanted visits from Chinese officials, as China attempts to extradite him to his home nation. She’s lawyers are fighting these attempts, claiming they fear for his life if he were to return.

Creating a colony

She’s claims are extraordinary. He claims that he was recruited as a spy by China’s Ministry of State Security in return for them dropping a criminal case against him.

He then suggested that the Chinese government ordered him to establish a town on the border between Thailand and Myanmar in an attempt to claim more Chinese land. She refused the order. “They wanted a colony. I wanted to do business,” he told Al Jazeera.

Shortly after he made the claims in an Al Jazeera documentary, She was transferred to a high security prison in Bangkok. There, he was beaten by officers and inmates for supposedly violating discipline. He was left unable to stand.

indirectly threatened his family and friends

She claims that when Chinese officials visited him in prison they indirectly threatened his family and friends.

A gambling empire

She headed a gambling empire at the time of his arrests which included a $15bn casino and entertainment facility on the Myanmar-Thai border. His company, Yatai International Holdings Group, has denied any involvement in illicit operations.

The Chinese government has responded publicly to She’s claims. It stated that the online gambling and telecom fraud accusations ledged against She are “conclusive.