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Cyber-dissident Zhang Lin held in "criminal detention"

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has called for the immediate release of pro-democracy activist Zhang Lin, who was due to have been freed on 13 February 2005 following 15 days of "administrative detention". Zhang is now being held in what the Chinese authorities call "criminal detention" on a charge of threatening state security.

"It is ridiculous to accuse an individual of threatening his country's security just because he posted articles on the Internet," the organisation said.

Zhang was arrested on 29 January at the train station in Bengbu, Anhui province, on his return from Beijing. The local police said at the time that he would spend 15 days in administrative detention.

But instead of releasing him when the two weeks were up, the police have now told his wife, Fang Cao, that Zhang is in criminal detention in Bengbu's main prison. In China, a person can be held in criminal detention for 37 days before being formally charged.

"My husband is now in the hands of the security services," Fang told RSF. "The authorities have not told me what laws he is supposed to have broken."

The day before his arrest, Zhang went to the Beijing home of the ousted former prime minister, Zhao Ziyang, in order to express his condolences for Zhao's recent death, but the police prevented him from entering the Zhao residence. In an interview a few days before for the magazine "Epoch Times", which was also posted on the Internet, Zhang called Zhao a "sincere man" and a "unique Chinese leader."

Zhang often posts his articles on websites linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, such as http://www.Dajiyuan.com and http://www.Epochtimes.com, as well as http://www.Boxun.com, a website about human rights in China.