4 June 2002
Alert
CPJ calls for release of Internet publisher
Incident details
Huang Qi imprisoned(CPJ/IFEX) - In a letter to President Jiang Zemin CPJ expressed outraged with the continued detention of Internet publisher Huang Qi, who was arrested on 3 June 2000, and today completes two years in prison. Although Huang was secretly tried on 14 August 2001, authorities have not yet delivered a verdict in his case.
In October 1998, Huang Qi and his wife, Zeng Li, launched Tianwang Web site (www.6-4tianwang.com), a missing-persons search service based in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
The site soon became a forum for users to publicize abuses of power by local officials and to post articles about a variety of topics, including the 4 June 1989 military crackdown on peaceful demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, the independence movement in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, and the banned spiritual group Falun Gong.
In December 1999, Huang published an investigative report about labor abuses committed against workers whom the local government had sent abroad, according to an open letter Huang wrote from prison in February 2001. While several domestic newspapers subsequently investigated and published stories on the case, local officials began threatening Huang and repeatedly interrogated him about his reporting.
On 3 June 2000, public security officials came to Huang's office and took him into custody. In January 2001, while still in detention, he was charged with subversion. On August 14, the Chengdu Intermediate Court tried Huang in secret without pronouncing a verdict.
Huang has been beaten in prison and once tried to commit suicide, according to his open letter. His family members, including his wife and young son, have not been allowed to visit or communicate with him since his arrest two years ago.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
- noting that the Chinese government currently imprisons 35 journalists - more than
any other country in the world
- stating that China has signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, under which the government is obliged to ensure that citizens are free to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds without government interference
- calling for Huang Qi's immediate and unconditional release
Appeals To
His Excellency Jiang Zemin
President, People's Republic of China
C/o Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Fax: +202 588 0032
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
Source:
Committee to Protect Journalists
330 7th Ave., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001
USA
info (@) cpj.org
Phone: +1 212 465 1004
Fax: +1 212 465 9568
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