A Chinese-born gambling tycoon facing extradition to China has endured “inhumane treatment” in a Thai prison after claiming to be a Chinese spy, his lawyers have told Interpol. The legal team says they fear for his life, alleging he has been subjected to violence, solitary confinement, and denied medical care.
She Zhijiang, a Cambodian citizen, was arrested in Bangkok in 2022 under an international warrant and an Interpol red notice requested by Beijing, which accuses him of running illegal online gambling operations in Southeast Asia. In a letter to Interpol dated January 9, his lawyers said he has been chained, denied treatment for a spinal injury, and prevented from contacting his family. They also claim Chinese officials have visited him in prison against his will, seeking to persuade him to return to China.
The legal team, from the France-based firm FTMS Avocats, described She’s treatment as “particularly inhumane” and indicative of systemic human rights violations. “These elements lead us to seriously fear for our client’s life,” wrote lawyers Clara Gerard-Rodriguez and Pierre-Olivier Sur, who are pushing to overturn the red notice that facilitates his extradition.
Thailand’s Ministry of Justice declined to comment, referring inquiries to the Department of Corrections, which has not responded. The Chinese embassy in Bangkok, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of State Security also did not provide comment. An Interpol spokesperson stated that red notices must adhere to the organisation’s rules, which prohibit politically motivated actions, but declined further discussion.
She has called his detention politically driven, saying it followed his refusal to comply with Chinese authorities’ demands to develop a town on the Thai-Myanmar border. “They wanted a colony. I wanted to do business,” he told Al Jazeera in a documentary aired on September 26.
China has recently intensified pressure on Southeast Asian nations to crack down on Chinese-linked gambling and fraud syndicates, particularly after the high-profile cross-border rescue of a Chinese actor in January sparked widespread social media attention. The region has become a hub for gambling enterprises, some linked to fraud and human trafficking by criminal networks, many of Chinese origin.
Following the Al Jazeera documentary, She was transferred to a maximum-security prison in Bangkok that houses long-term inmates and death row prisoners, his lawyers said. In October, he was allegedly “brutally tackled” by officers and inmates who accused him of violating discipline. The attack left him unable to walk or stand, forcing him to use a wheelchair, according to a police report seen by Reuters.
The lawyers also claim that in December, Chinese embassy officials visited She twice in prison against his wishes. During one meeting, they allegedly suggested his family and friends might require assistance from the embassy, a comment he interpreted as a threat.
At the time of his arrest, She was the head of a gambling empire that developed the $15 billion Shwe Kokko casino and entertainment complex on the Myanmar-Thai border. His group, Yatai International Holdings, also invested in Cambodia and the Philippines. The company has denied involvement in any illegal activities, including human trafficking.
She told Al Jazeera that he was recruited in the Philippines by China’s Ministry of State Security in exchange for the dropping of a criminal case against him. He claimed to have worked with Alice Guo, a former Philippine mayor also known as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, who was removed from office last year amid an investigation into offshore gambling operations targeting Chinese clients. Guo, facing graft and money laundering charges, has denied allegations of espionage and dismissed other accusations as politically motivated.
