Chen, the former publisher of Economics Weekly, was rearrested in June 1995, after being released in 1994 on medical parole from prison, where he was serving a 13-year sentence for his role in the Tiananmen Square demonstrations. His rearrest was believed to be Iinked to his 24-hour fast on the sixth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and to his endorsement of a petition in May 1995 calling for freedom of expression and the release of political prisoners. Chen, a 1991 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award, was originally arrested in October 1989, labeled one of the “black hands” behind the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and convicted of conducting counter revolutionary activities. He was released on parole for treatment of cancer, hepatitis and heart disease.