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Alert

CPJ protests journalist's detention

(CPJ/IFEX) - In a 24 September 2004 letter to President Hu Jintao, CPJ expressed its alarm over the recent detention of Zhao Yan, a news assistant at the "New York Times" Beijing bureau and a former reporter for Beijing-based "China Reform" magazine.

Zhao was detained in Shanghai on 17 September. Zhao's lawyer Mo Shaoping has been unable to contact him, according to international news reports, and authorities have not responded to inquiries by the "New York Times" about the reason for his arrest.

On 21 September, Zhao's family received a notice from the Beijing State Security Bureau accusing Zhao of "providing state secrets to foreigners," according to international news reports. Mo said these allegations could lead to a charge of treason, a crime punishable by execution.

The arrest followed an article in the "New York Times" revealing Jiang Zemin's plan to retire from the position of chairman of the Central Military Commission. The 7 September article preceded the official announcement of the final transfer of leadership to President Hu on 19 September and cited unnamed sources with ties to leadership.

Zhao's associates have speculated that the journalist is under investigation as the source of the leak. But "New York Times" foreign editor Susan Chira said that Zhao, who worked as a researcher for the newspaper and not as a reporter, was not the source of this information.

Zhao began working at the "New York Times" in May after he was forced out of his job as a reporter for "China Reform" magazine. Police harassed Zhao on multiple occasions in 2004 after he reported aggressively for the Beijing-based magazine on government abuse of peasants across China. In June, police raided Zhao's family home. According to the New York-based organization Human Rights in China, the raid startled Zhao's elderly father and precipitated a decline in his health; he died a few days later. Zhao has also worked as a political activist.

Mo said that Zhao's recent detention may be unrelated to his former work, according to the "Los Angeles Times".