Help Free Cyber Dissdent Mr. Du DaoBin

Awaiting A Democratic Hong Kong.

Please sign the petition letter requesting release of Mr. Du Daobin

Du Daobin, a civil servant from HuBei, a central province of China, was taken into custody by plainclothes state security agents on Oct. 28, accused of “subverting state power.”

Before his arrest, Du was a prolific writer who had published his essays online. He was deeply affected by the arrest of fellow Internet writer Liu Di, a 23-year-old college student, who was arrested in Beijing on November 7, 2002, and has been held incommunicado since then. She was an active contributor to several online forums, and frequently wrote articles that were critical of the Chinese government. She also expressed her support for imprisoned Web master Huang Qi, and called for freedom of expression.

After Liu Di’s arrest, Du had actively called for her release and recently co-organized an online campaign to show solidarity by taking a series of actions, including spending one day in a darkened room to symbolically “accompanyiu Di in prison.” He also wrote a number of essays supporting Liu Di and calling on authorities to release her.

“We pay homage to Du Daobin’s courage and the impact of his symbolic protest in support of Liu Di. The simulated detention campaign was a model of peaceful protest and the arrest of its instigator is quite simply disgraceful,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert M¨¦nard said.

Du’s wife has not been allowed to visit or communicate with Du in detention. The request of Du’s lawyer to meet him has also been denied.

Several dozen Chinese academics, reporters and scholars have written a petition letter addressed to Premier Wen Jiabao, which calls on Beijing to release Du and protect freedom of speech.

“We express our deep regret over the matter,” the letter said. “We request that the highest executive authorities take lawful measures to instruct the relevant authorities to liberate Du Daobin.”

“We hope more people show their concerns for Du and other conscience prisoners, and sign this letter.” One of the authors, Mr. Liu Xiaobo, said.

The letter is now open for public to sign. Anyone who would like to sign the letter may send an email to FreeDuDaobin@yahoo.com to give authorization to put his name at the end of the letter, or just sign here:

Click Link to Text Box

PS: Awaiting A Democratic Hong Kong

Published by Yan Sham-Shackleton

Yan Sham-Shackleton is a Hong Kong writer who lives in Los Angeles. This is her old blog Glutter written mostly in Hong Kong from 2003 to 2007. Although it was a personal blog, Yan focused a lot on free speech issues and democratic movement in Hong Kong. She moved to the US in 2007.

One thought on “Help Free Cyber Dissdent Mr. Du DaoBin

  1. There is no need for actions like that! China is over reacting and this is not very flattering incident for modern politics of China. Back medieval times, eh?

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