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Alert

Cyber-dissident arrested and charged with "plotting against the state"

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has called for the immediate release of cyber-dissident Li Zhi, who was charged on 3 September 2003 with "plotting against the state" for having been in contact with foreign-based dissidents via the Internet. He faces a 15-year prison sentence if convicted.

The organisation demanded that all charges be dropped against the 32-year-old civil servant and noted that the charges violate both the Chinese constitution and the country's international human rights commitments. RSF said Li Zhi is being targeted as part of a broader government crackdown that demonstrates once again the complete official intolerance of online freedom of expression. Government surveillance of e-mail messages and discussion forums to track down regime dissidents is unacceptable, the organisation added.

State security police arrested Li Zhi at his home in Dazhou, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, on 8 August. The United States-based organisation Human Rights in China said he had criticised the government in online forums and was therefore regarded as being in contact with foreign-based opponents of the regime. Police seized his computer, but provincial officials refused to say anything about the offending messages.

The Internet has become a major target of the Chinese regime's repression since three harsh laws governing it's use were adopted in 2000. Thirty cyber-dissidents are currently imprisoned throughout the country for having expressed their opinions online.