Mel Gibson calls for release of American Christian 'wrongfully detained' in China
"Mark Swidan was unjustly and illegally imprisoned by the Chinese for almost 11 years. He faces the death penalty, he is a man of great faith, an American patriot, and he refuses during his captivity to renounce his faith or to his country."
The actor and director Mel Gibson has just pleaded the case of Mark Swidan, an American national detained for ten years in China. Businessman, he is accused of working with a Mexican cartel to manufacture methamphetamine.
"Mark Swidan was unjustly and illegally imprisoned by the Chinese for nearly 11 years," he said, "he faces the death penalty, he is a man of great faith, an American patriot, and he refuses during his captivity to renounce his faith or his country".
"I ask all of you to raise your voices and demand Mark's release, and pray that he returns to his family."
On April 13, the US State Department, according to which Mark Swidan is "wrongfully detained", revealed in a press release that the Jiangmen Intermediate Court of the People's Republic of China had rejected Mark Swidan's appeal. His death sentence was confirmed, with a two-year reprieve.
"We are disappointed with this decision and will continue to press for his immediate release and return to the United States," the spokesperson explained, "US officials have repeatedly raised concerns with senior PRC officials regarding the Mr. Swidan's treatment, medical care and his inability to send or receive mail in a timely manner".
Last February, Senator Ted Cruz was speaking about Mark Swidan. He called on China to release him.
“Right now there is a Texan, Mark Swidan, who is a political prisoner. He is being held hostage in China. He has been there for 10 years. Last week I presented a resolution on the floor of the Senate with John Cornyn, calling on China to release Mark Swidan. He is unjustly imprisoned. He has been there for 10 years. They sentenced him to death on charges for which they have little or no evidence and I urged Tony Blinken, when he was in Beijing, to raise Mark's case and plead for his release China, if it wants to show that it's not a bad actor, if it wants to show that it can aspire to be a great nation, it should release Mark Swidan, because great nations and great powers do not hold political prisoners."
MC
