On Journalists’ Day in China, Shi Tao will be in a high-security prison
New York, November 4, 2005–Journalist Shi Tao has been transferred to a high-security prison in Hunan Province that is commonly used to hold political prisoners and hard-core criminals serving lengthy sentences, according to new details emerging about his imprisonment. Shi, who is serving a 10-year sentence for distributing information online, may read only officially approved…
Internet writer missing after reporting on steel worker protests
New York, October 26, 2005 —A businessman who reported online about steel worker protests in the central Chinese town of Chongqing has disappeared, and is thought to be in police custody, according to the advocacy group Chinese Rights Defenders (CRD). Police seized Shi Xiaoyu from his home in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province on October 20, CRD…
CPJ protests spy charge against Straits Times reporter
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the charge of espionage leveled on Friday against Straits Times reporter Ching Cheong, who has been detained since April without access to legal representation or his family. As an independent organization of journalists dedicated to defending our colleagues worldwide, we are gravely concerned that a pattern of using national security charges against journalists is seriously inhibiting the ability of the press to cover important events in China.
Internet journalist jailed for defamation
New York, July 26, 2005 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the imprisonment of Internet journalist Li Jianping on suspicion of defamation. Authorities detained Li on May 27 in Zibo, a city in northeastern China’s Shandong Province, and formally arrested him for defamation on June 30, according to ChinaEForum, a U.S.-based dissident news forum.…
CHINA
JUNE 30, 2005 Posted: July 28, 2005 Li Jianping, freelancer IMPRISIONED The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the imprisonment of Internet journalist Li Jianping on suspicion of defamation. Authorities detained Li on May 27 in Zibo, a city in northeastern China’s Shandong Province, and formally arrested him for defamation on June 30, according to ChinaEForum,…
CPJ seeks reversal of journalist’s ‘state secret’ conviction
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the harsh 10-year prison sentence handed to journalist Shi Tao on charges of “illegally providing state secrets to foreigners” after an unfair trial last week. Shi plans to submit an appeal in advance of a May 10 deadline. We call on authorities to drop the state secrets charge against him, which your government has used with disturbing frequency to imprison journalists, and to ensure Shi’s immediate and unconditional release.
CPJ calls for Times journalist’s release on six-month anniversary of his imprisonment
Your Excellency: Today marks the six-month anniversary of the imprisonment of Zhao Yan, a news assistant at The New York Times who has been held incommunicado and without charge or trial since September 17, 2004. The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores Zhao’s ongoing detention, which violates international law and the 2004 amendment to the Chinese Constitution safeguarding human rights.