高智晟律師受迫害前照片
中國維權律師高智晟六日在失蹤一年之後首度會見媒體、接受美聯社獨家專訪時表示，過去的作為讓他與家人付出代價，往後他不會再高調批評政府，希望有朝一日能與家人團聚；不過高智晟並未多談過去一年的行蹤，面對許多疑問也都避重就輕地帶過，讓人引發他是否已恢復自由身、是否仍在警方魔掌監控之下的疑慮。
高智晟2006年被中共當局以煽動顛覆國家政權罪判刑三年，緩刑五年，去年二月遭警方帶走之後一直下落不明。兩週前，失蹤多時的高智晟突然現身、與親友通電話，六日更首度面對媒體，接受美聯社專訪。許久不見的高智晟再露面顯得消瘦許多、也較以往沉默，與過去短小精悍的模樣相去甚遠。受訪時他不願多談失蹤期間的去處、是否遭當局拘留或虐待，僅表示過去的事讓他與妻子還有兩個小孩付出代價。
四十四歲的高智晟在北京住家附近的茶館受訪時表示：「我沒有堅持下去的能力，一方面，這是我過去的經驗，而也是因為這些經驗，深深地傷害了我所愛的人，經過深思熟慮，我最後的決定是，我只想追求平靜。」
高智晟說到家人時，眼眶數度泛淚，特別是提到六日他首度返家、看到親人的鞋子時，眼淚更幾乎要奪眶而出：「我完全控制不了情緒，因為對我來說，他們是我在世界上最愛的三個人，而現在，我們就像斷線的風箏一樣。」
高智晟表示，他與美聯社是「閒聊」而非訪問（2006年他獲得假釋的條件之一就是不得接受訪問），「閒聊」中他也暗示了與當局妥協，希望能以放棄異議活動，來換取與家人聯繫、最後終能團圓的目標。
高智晟表示，「你知道我過去的生活不正常，我需要放棄之前的生活，我希望我能成為這個大家庭和平生活的一部分」；「你知道，選擇放棄，主要就是為了家人的感覺，我希望能與他們團圓，我的孩子需要我在他們身邊，陪著他們長大。」
高智晟說，他這樣有點像是思想背叛，一定會讓很多支持者傷心，他也懇求他們的諒解，「每個人都會失望，有些人真的參與其中、關心、支持、訴求，所以他們聽到我說的話，他們絕對會失望。對於他們，我致上歉意，我抱歉極了。」
這段長一個多小時的訪問，部分目的似乎是要化解外界在高智晟失蹤後，對其健康與精神狀況的疑慮，但他不願意提及過去，以及對於許多提問都閃爍其詞的回答，也不禁讓人懷疑他是否已恢復自由之身、是否還遭到警方監控。
活躍於人權運動的高智晟，過去十年一直是當局的眼中釘、肉中刺。他倡議憲法改革，還參與基督教與法輪功等敏感案件，多次被捕、遭刑求與監控之後，十四個月前突然失蹤，而中共政府對其失蹤一事的模糊回應，還曾引發國際人權組織與英美政府抗議。
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中國維權律師高智晟4月6日在失蹤一年之後首度見媒體、接受美聯社獨家專訪時表示，過去的作為讓他與家人付出代價，往後他不會再高調批評政府，希望有朝 1日能與家人團聚。不過高智晟並未多談過去一年的行蹤，面對許多疑問也都避重就輕地帶過，讓人引發他是否已恢復自由身、是否仍在警方魔掌監控之下的疑慮。
高智晟2006年被中共當局以煽動顛覆國家政權罪判刑三年，緩刑五年，去年2月遭警方帶走之後一直下落不明。兩週前，失蹤多時的高智晟突然現身、與親友通電話，6日更首度面對媒體，接受美聯社專訪。許久不見的高智晟再露面顯得消瘦許多，也較以往沉默，與過去短小精悍的模樣相去甚遠。受訪時他不願多談失蹤期間的去處，以及是否遭當局拘留或虐待，僅表示過去的事讓他與妻子還有兩個小孩付出代價。
他說，他的痛苦經歷對自己以及妻子和兩名子女造成了傷害。他的妻小去年初秘密離開了中國，以避免公安不停地騷擾。
高智晟在北京北區住家附近的一個茶館內坐得筆直，他告訴美聯社記者，「我沒有堅持的能耐，一方面是因為我過去的經歷，再方面也是因為這番經歷嚴重傷害了我所愛的人。經過深入和謹慎思考後，我的最後選擇是追求平靜的目標」。
他在談到家人時，眼中數度含淚，尤其是在他形容6日首次返家並看到家人鞋子的情景時。
他說：「我完全喪失了情緒控制，因為對我來說，這是我在世上最愛的3個人，但現在我們像是斷了線的風箏。」
高智晟說，他這樣有點像是思想背叛，一定會讓很多支持者傷心。他也懇求他們的諒解：「每個人都會失望，有些人真的參與其中、關心、支持、訴求，所以他們聽到我說的話，他們絕對會失望。對於他們，我致上歉意，我抱歉極了。」
這段長一個多小時的訪問，部分目的似乎是要化解外界在高智晟失蹤後，對其健康與精神狀況的疑慮。但他不願意提及過去，以及對於許多提問都閃爍其詞的回答，也不禁讓人懷疑他是否已恢復自由之身、是否還遭到警方監控。大紀元
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美聯社原報導：
Crusading Chinese lawyer gives up activism
By CHARLES HUTZLER and ISOLDA MORILLO (AP) – 13 hours ago
BEIJING — A crusading Chinese rights lawyer whose disappearance more than a year ago caused an international outcry said Wednesday that he is abandoning his once prominent role as a government critic in hopes he'll be allowed to reunite with his family.
In an exclusive interview, his first since he resurfaced two weeks ago, Gao Zhisheng said he did not wish to discuss his disappearance and whether he had been held and mistreated by the authorities. He appeared thinner and more subdued than the stocky, pugnacious civil rights defender of the past, though he said his health was fine.
Nevertheless, Gao said, the ordeal had taken a toll on him and his wife and two children, who secretly fled China early last year to escape relentless harassment by police.
"I don't have the capacity to persevere. On the one hand, it's my past experiences. It's also that these experiences greatly hurt my loved ones. This ultimate choice of mine, after a process of deep and careful thought, is to seek the goal of peace and calm," Gao, sitting straight-backed, told The Associated Press at a tea house near his apartment in northern Beijing.
His eyes brimmed with tears several times when he discussed his family, especially when he described seeing their shoes when he returned home for the first time Tuesday.
"I completely lost control of my emotions, because to me these are the three dearest people in the world and now, we're like a kite with a broken string," he said.
Among the most dauntless of a group of human rights lawyers, Gao was a thorn in the authoritarian government's side for much of the past decade. He advocated constitutional reform and took on sensitive cases involving evangelical Christians and members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual group. He was jailed, tortured and watched by police until he went missing 14 months ago. Vague statements from the government as to his whereabouts drew protests by international human rights groups, the U.S. and British governments and the U.N.'s torture investigator.
The more than hourlong meeting seemed partly intended to dispel concerns over the 44-year-old Gao's health and state of mind since he disappeared in February 2009. He showed flashes of his previously defiant self, mixing praise for the government's building of the economy while calling for democracy.
But his desire not to talk about the past and his often roundabout answers raised questions about the current conditions of his freedom and whether he is still under police surveillance.
Gao said his meeting with the AP was "a chat," not an interview — which is forbidden under terms of a 2006 parole for a subversion conviction. He hinted at a compromise with authorities, a relinquishing of his past activism in exchange for contact with his family and perhaps one day a reunion.
"You know that past life of mine was abnormal, and I need to give up that former life. I hope I can become part of the peaceful life of the big family," Gao said.
He later added: "You know the main basis for choosing to give up is for the sake of family feelings," he said. "I hope I can reunite with them. My children need me by their side growing up."
Gao's sudden resurfacing March 18 added to the confusion about him. For a few days, he spoke with friends, family and the media by mobile phone, saying he was at Mount Wutai, a well-known Buddhist retreat, and wanted to be left alone. That explanation was so out of character for the normally garrulous Gao that it brought speculation from friends and supporters that he was being pressured by the authorities.
Gao acknowledged that his seeming turnabout is sure to dishearten his backers and asked for their understanding. "Everybody will be disappointed. Some people were really involved, concerned, supportive, making appeals. So when they read my words they will definitely feel disappointed. To them, I apologize. I'm extremely sorry," he said.
His previous imprisonment and run-ins with police — including a time in 2007 when security forces gave him electric shocks to his genitals and placed cigarettes in his eyes — helped him survive the last 14 months.
"I have a special characteristic and that's no matter the circumstances I can control my feelings or my emotions," said Gao. "It's like a mechanical function, and I don't allow it to move and turn. I just exist as a material thing."
Despite his retreat from the front lines, Gao said he was inspired by the Myanmar democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi, though in her years in jail and under house arrest her family knew where she was, unlike him. Even without his forceful presence, he expected a new crop of rights lawyers to push ahead promoting legal rights and democracy, undeterred by his troubles.
"Just because of the repression I experienced, don't think that other people won't do what I did. That's not human nature," Gao said. "If there's one more of me or one less of me in the field, it doesn't matter. These years we've heard that a lot of others are eager to try. I still want to talk with them and hope they can learn a lesson from me."
