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Alert

Cyber-dissident Jiang Lijun sentenced to four years in prison

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a WAN and World Editors Forum (WEF) letter to Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang:

The Right Honourable Zhou Yongkang
Public Security Minister
Beijing, People's Republic of China
C/o HE Ambassador to UK
Email: press@chinese-embassy.org.uk

2 December 2003

Dear Minister,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 100 countries, to express our serious concern at the sentencing to jail for four years of cyber-dissident Jiang Lijun.

According to reports, on 28 November a Beijing court sentenced Mr Jiang, who was arrested on 7 November and detained in Qincheng jail, to four years in prison for posting articles critical of the government on the Internet. Mr Jiang was charged with "inciting subversion" after writing an open letter to the 16th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party calling for democratic reforms. It is not yet clear whether Mr Jiang intends to appeal against his conviction.

We respectfully remind you that the jailing of Mr Jiang constitutes a clear breach of his right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions, including Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Furthermore, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights considers that 'detention, as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion, is one of the most reprehensible ways to enjoin silence and, as a consequence, a grave violation of human rights'.

We are seriously concerned at the state's continuing crackdown on dissenting voices, as illustrated by the recent jailing of Internet writers Jin Haike, Xu Wei, Yang Zili, Zhang Honghai, Huang Qi, Tao Haidong, Guo Qinghai, Huang Qi, Liu Weifang, Qi Yanchen, Chen Shaowen, Liao Yiwu, Liu Di and Ouyang Yi.

We respectfully call on you to do everything possible to ensure that Mr Jiang and all others held for exercising their right to freedom of expression are immediately released from jail. We urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure that in future your country fully respects international standards of freedom of expression.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Seok Hyun Hong
President
World Association of Newspapers

Gloria Brown Anderson
President
World Editors Forum

cc: Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General, UNESCO