news: JUDGES URGED TO ACQUIT CYBER-DISSIDENT LI JIANPING ON SUBVERSION CHARGE

Posted byYan Sham-ShackletonPosted inZhong Guo, Middle Kingdom
JUDGES URGED TO ACQUIT CYBER-DISSIDENT
LI JIANPING ON SUBVERSION CHARGE

Reporters Without Borders today called for
the acquittal of cyber-dissident Li Jianping, whose trial on a
charge of "inciting the subversion of state sovereignty" in
articles and comments for foreign websites will begin tomorrow in the
eastern province of Shandong. He was charged on 9 March but has been
held since 28 May 2005.

"Li’s conviction would violate international standards of free
expression," the press freedom organisation said. "His only crime
was to express his views on such issues as democracy. We urge the
judges to find him innocent and set him free, especially as he has
already spent almost a year in prison for no good reason."

Foreign-based websites barred to Chinese Internet users such as
Boxun News, ChinaEWeekly, China Democracy and
Epoch Times were regularly used by Li to post articles criticising
some of the practices of the leaders of the ruling Communist Party of
China and deploring the lack of free expression in the Chinese
media.

He was arrested for defamation when officials from the Internet
control committee came and searched his home in Zibo, in Shandong
province, and examined the contents of his computer’s hard
drive.

According to the US-based organisation Human Rights in China and his
lawyer, Zhang Xinshui, he faces a possible 15-year prison sentence
when he appears tomorrow before an intermediate court.

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Aged 40, Li is a businessman as well as an\nindependent journalist, and used to run a medical equipment supply\nbusiness. He took part in the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in\nBeijing in 1989 as a founder of the Independent Federation of Shanghai\nUniversities.
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CHINE
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PROCÈS D\’UN CYBERDISSIDENT : REPORTERS\nSANS FRONTIÈRES EN APPELLE À LA CLÉMENCE DES\nJUGES

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Reporters sans frontières demande à la\njustice chinoise de faire preuve de clémence lors du procès du\ncyberdissident Li Jianping qui débutera le  mercredi 12\navril 2006. Li jianping est emprisonné depuis le 28 mai 2005 pour la\npublication de nombreux articles et commentaires politiques sur des\nsites basés à l\’étranger. Il a été inculpé le 9 mars\n2006 d\’"incitation à la subversion de la souveraineté de\nl\’Etat" par le parquet de la province de Shandong (est du pays)\noù il est détenu.
\n
\n"La condamnation de Li Jianping serait contraire aux standards\ninternationaux en matière de liberté d\’expression. Son unique\ntort est, en effet, de s\’être exprimé sur des sujets tels que la\ndémocratie. Nous demandons aux juges chinois d\’innocenter et\nd\’ordonner la libération de Li Jianping qui a déjà passé\nprès d\’un an en prison sans motif réel", a déclaré\nReporters sans frontières.
\n 
\nAvant son arrestation, Li Jianping publiait régulièrement des\narticles sur des sites basés à l\’étranger et interdits\nd\’accès aux internautes chinois, tels que Boxun News,\nChinaEWeekly, China Democracy et Epoch Times. Il\navait critiqué certaines pratiques des dirigeants du Parti\ncommuniste chinois (PCC) et condamné l\’absence de liberté\nd\’expression dans les médias chinois.”,1]
);
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Aged 40, Li is a businessman as well as an
independent journalist, and used to run a medical equipment supply
business. He took part in the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in
Beijing in 1989 as a founder of the Independent Federation of Shanghai
Universities.

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.

3 thoughts on “news: JUDGES URGED TO ACQUIT CYBER-DISSIDENT LI JIANPING ON SUBVERSION CHARGE”

  2. My comment’s unrelated to this entry, but I thought it worth noting that Hu Jintao is in the US this week. His first order of business is to meet with captains of American industry (CEOs of various large companies), and later in the week w/George Bush.
    I’m virtually certain that human rights are NOT on the agenda with the CEOs or the Bush.

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