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BEIJING — A prominent Chinese human rights lawyer died under mysterious circumstances in an eastern Jiangsu province military hospital on Monday, his close friend said, raising questions about the welfare of those who have defied the country’s authorities.

Li Baiguang was a well-known lawyer who defended farmers and Christian pastors, work that garnered him an award from the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy in 2008. He died just hours after being admitted to No. 81 People’s Liberation Army Hospital for a minor stomach ache, a relative of Li’s told Bob Fu, a religious activist who has known the lawyer for over a decade.

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Fu said in a statement through his U.S.-based Christian non-profit group China Aid that the “Chinese regime should be totally held accountable” for Li’s sudden and “mysterious” death.

China has a history of either neglecting the medical conditions of human rights activists until they succumb to them or declaring previously healthy people dead

“The hospital alleged that he had liver problems and that he bled to death, but Li was previously healthy,” the statement said. “China has a history of either neglecting the medical conditions of human rights activists until they succumb to them or declaring previously healthy people dead.”