July 26, 2001

JinYu Li's heart-wrenching ordeal was supposed to be over Monday when her husband's 18-month sentence in a Chinese labour camp expired.

But instead of being reunited in Montreal this week with the husband she has had no contact with since his arrest in 1999, Li began a vigil yesterday on the sidewalk outside the Chinese embassy in Ottawa to bring attention to his continued incarceration.

The day before ShenLi Lin was due to be freed, Chinese authorities suddenly changed their minds and extended the Falun Gong practitioner's sentence another six months.

Li plans to keep a round-the-clock vigil until Aug. 9.

This is the second time her husband's imprisonment has thwarted his departure for Canada.

Irwin Cotler, a Montreal Liberal MP and human-rights lawyer who has helped Li bring her husband's plight to the attention of the Canadian government, said he will meet with Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley as soon as possible.