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Alert

RSF condemns cyber-dissident's imprisonment

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has condemned the detention of dissident journalist Zheng Yichun, whose arrest on 3 December 2004 for writing articles for publications and websites based abroad has only just emerged.

Zheng, who faces a heavy sentence on a charge of "subverting state power", is one of five dissident journalists to be arrested in the past four months, along with Zhang Lin, Shi Tao, Yang Tianshui and Li Boguang.

RSF said it was outraged by Zheng's arrest and the subversion charge, as his only crime was to express his views in articles published abroad. "This wave of arrests of dissident journalists confirms the virulence of the government's current campaign against liberal ideas and intellectuals," the organisation said, calling for Zheng's release.

Following his 3 December arrest by the Public Security Bureau in Yingkou, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, Zheng was initially held in a hotel. He was transferred to Panjin's No.1 prison, in the same province, on 20 December. His lawyer, Li Ming-Chang, has been able to see him since his arrest.

His family was notified of the subversion charge by the Yingkou Prosecutor's Office on 31 December. Relatives were warned that there would be reprisals if they informed the press or human rights organisations about Zheng's arrest. They only decided to talk after his arrest was reported in a Yingkou daily on 24 February 2005. The Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC) has learned that the Prosecutor's Office is citing 63 of Zheng's articles as evidence for the charges against him. They were among 300 articles which the police confiscated from his home.

Aged 48 and a member for the Korean minority, Zheng has had four collections of poems published in addition to some 200 political essays. Dozens of his articles have recently been published in newspapers such as "Da Ji Yuan" ("Epoch Times") and websites such as Boxun and Min Zhu Lun Tan (Democratic Forum), all of which are based abroad. Prior to his arrest, Zheng was an English teacher at Liaoning University.