confirms implication of Yahoo! Reporters Without Borders said it had obtained a copy of the court
verdict against Li Zhi (below), a former official jailed for eight
years in December 2003, confirming that US firm Yahoo! collaborated
with the prosecution, as did local competitor, Sina.
"The Li Zhi verdict shows that all Internet sector companies are
pulled in to help when the police investigate a political dissident,"
the press freedom organisation said.
"It is unacceptable that US firms should turn themselves into
auxiliaries of a government that systematically tramples on the rights
of Internet-users to freedom of expression," it said.
"Yahoo! should urgently withdraw its content and email servers from
this country before further requests of this kind are made of it. The
fact that it operates in China through a local partner, Alibaba, does
not in any way absolve it of its ethical responsibilities," said the
organisation.
The verdict showed that Yahoo! Hong Kong Ltd and Sina Beijing had
supplied information confirming that Li Zhi had set up an email
account using their services. It did not however say if the content of
messages he sent or received had been handed over to the courts.
It also showed that a local telecommunications agency had helped the
authorities find Li Zhi’s address and telephone number, based on the
IP address used to access Yahoo! and Sina email boxes.
Some of Li’s emails and transcripts of his discussions on forums on
<!–
D(["mb","Sina.com formed part of the charges drawn up by the National Security\nBureau. The verdict also quoted an article that was posted on his\npersonal website, hosted by Muzi.com, headlined "Why is China\nlagging behind?"
\n
\nChinese police made use of "witnesses" to confirm that Li was\nputting the Internet to subversive use. One of them revealed that the\nofficial had asked his advice on how to get round online\ncensorship.
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nReporters sans frontières a obtenu une copie du verdict de Li\nZhi (ci-dessous), un ancien fonctionnaire condamné en décembre\n2003 à huit ans de prison. Ce document mentionne la collaboration de\nl\’entreprise américaine Yahoo !, ainsi que celle d\’un concurrent\nlocal, Sina, avec la justice chinoise.
\n
\n"Le verdict de Li Zhi démontre que toutes les entreprises du\nsecteur de l\’Internet sont mises à contribution lorsque la police\nenquête sur un dissident politique. Il est inacceptable que des\nsociétés américaines se fassent les auxiliaires d\’un\ngouvernement qui bafoue systématiquement le droit des internautes à\nla liberté d\’expression. Yahoo ! doit retirer au plus vite ses\nserveurs de contenus et d\’e-mails de ce pays, avant que d\’autres\nrequêtes de ce genre ne lui soient présentées. Le fait qu\’elle\nopère dans ce pays au travers d\’un partenaire local, Alibaba, ne peut\nen aucun cas l\’exonérer de ses responsabilités éthiques", a\ndéclaré l\’organisation.”,1]
);
//–>Sina.com formed part of the charges drawn up by the National Security
Bureau. The verdict also quoted an article that was posted on his
personal website, hosted by Muzi.com, headlined "Why is China
lagging behind?"
Chinese police made use of "witnesses" to confirm that Li was
putting the Internet to subversive use. One of them revealed that the
official had asked his advice on how to get round online
censorship.
Li was accused of getting in touch via the
Internet with Xie Wanjun, head of the banned China Democracy Party. A
membership form was apparently also found on his computer.
—
BEIJING, China (Reuters) — China has
indicted an outspoken journalist and Internet writer for "incitement to
subvert state power," a rights group said.
Li Yuanlong, 45, a
reporter for the Bijie Daily in southern Guizhou province, had angered
local officials with reports on unemployment and rural poverty and
controversial essays posted on the Internet under a pseudonym, Human
Rights in China said in a statement seen on Monday.
His detention
and those of other print and Internet journalists on grounds of state
security contradicted government statements that it had never arrested
anyone for expressing an opinion on the Web, the New York-based group
said.
"No one in China has been arrested simply because he or she
said something on the Internet," state media quoted Liu Zhengrong, vice
head of the Internet Affairs Bureau of the State Council Information
Office, as saying in mid-February. more
Yan Sham-Shackleton Online 