A man wrongfully detained in a Chinese mental hospital for six and a half years was released earlier this month following pressure from a commercial lawyer turned civil liberties activist.

Former commercial lawyer Alice XT Huang, who visited London as a guest of the Law Society last week, founded China’s first group campaigning for the release of hundreds of mentally sound people held in China’s mental hospitals against their will.

Huang told the Gazette most of the individuals who have been wrongfully detained are people who, having failed to get justice at a local level, have tried to petition central government. Local government officials, not wanting their work scrutinised by central government, have instructed the police to arrest the petitioners and take them to hospital where they can remain for years, uncharged and without access to legal representation.

Huang set up the Psychiatry and Social Watch Institute two years ago to campaign on behalf of detainees.

She said last month’s release of a man wrongfully held for six years had been the highlight of the campaign, which has raised awareness of the problem.

Huang was in London last week seeking Law Society support in raising her group’s UK and European profile.