CPJ joins call for Guatemalan authorities to drop criminal charges against journalist Anastasia Mejía
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 50 human rights organizations, media outlets, and individuals in a statement calling on Guatemalan authorities to drop all remaining charges against Indigenous radio journalist Anastasia Mejía Tiriquiz. Mejía is facing charges of sedition and aggravated attack for her alleged participation in an August 24, 2020, demonstration, according to…
Sophia Huang Xueqin
Chinese journalist Sophia Huang Xueqin has been held since September 2021 and went on trial in September 2023 for “inciting subversion of state power.” As of late 2023, she remained in custody and was awaiting a verdict in her trial. Huang is a freelance journalist who has covered social issues on her personal blog since…
Tran Khue
On October 22, 2002, the Foreign Ministry announced that writer Tran Khue, also known as Tran Van Khue, had been placed under administrative detention, or house arrest, for two years, and that his term had begun on October 9, 2001. Administrative Detention Directive 31/CP allows the government to put individuals under house arrest for two…
Lü Jiaping
Beijing police detained Lü, a military scholar in his 70s, his wife, Yu Junyi, and his colleague, Jin, on allegations of inciting subversion in 13 online articles they wrote and distributed together, according to international news reports and human rights groups. A court sentenced Lü to 10 years in prison and Jin to eight years…
Zi Beijia
Police arrested Zi after he allegedly fabricated a July 8 story about the sale of steamed buns stuffed with cardboard. Ten days after the report aired, Beijing TV apologized for the story and said that it was an invention. The Xinhua News Agency said Zi confessed, although a number of local journalists told CPJ that…
Zhang Jianhong
The founder and editor of popular news and literary Web site Aiqinhai (Aegean Sea) was taken from his home in Ningbo, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. In October, he was formally arrested on charges of “inciting subversion.” Authorities did not clarify their allegations against Zhang, but supporters believed they were linked to his online articles…
Li Jianping
Li, a writer and businessman, was detained by police in Zibo, in northeast China’s Shandong province. Initially held on suspicion of defamation for articles critical of former president Jiang Zemin and current President Hu Jintao, he was tried on more serious charges of “inciting subversion of state authority” on April 12, 2005. Before going forward…
Yang Tianshui (Yang Tongyan)
Yang, known by his pen name Yang Tianshui, was detained along with a friend in Nanjing, eastern China. He was tried on charges of subverting state power and, on May 17, 2006, the Zhenjiang Intermediate People’s Court sentenced him to 12 years in prison. Yang was a well-known writer and member of the Independent Chinese…
Huang Jinqiu (Qing Shuijun)
Huang, a columnist for the U.S.-based website Boxun News, was arrested in Jiangsu province, and his family was not notified of his arrest for more than three months. On September 27, 2004, the Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court sentenced him to 12 years in prison on charges of “subversion of state authority,” along with four years’…
Jiang Weiping
Jiang, a freelance journalist, was arrested after he published a number of articles in the Hong Kong-based magazine Qianshao (Frontline), a Chinese-language monthly focusing on mainland affairs. The stories exposed corruption scandals in northeastern China. Jiang wrote the Qianshao articles, which were published between June and September 1999, under various pen names. His coverage exposed…