[Reader-list] Fwd: <nettime> China alert (wave of repression against web dissidents)]

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

>Apologies for Cross Posting for those already on the Nettime List.



>But this is the kind of news that all of us living under draconian legal 
>regimes to police the Internet need to be wary of. I am sure that the men 
>in suits and khadi who determine the texture of the present in the 
>Republic of India are learning things from the men in suits and mao suits 
>in the People's Republic of China. When will the rest of us begin to wake 
>up? When the gentlemen from the cybercops come knocking on our doors?

Cheers

Shuddha



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>ALERT - CHINA
>
>26 April 2001
>
>Wave of repression against web dissidents
>
>SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris
>
>(RSF/IFEX) - In a letter to Jia Chunwang, Chinese minister of public
>security, RSF protested the arrest of Lu Xinhua and Guo Qinghai. Both are
>accused of violating the law on the content of information published on
>the Internet. RSF asked the minister to guarantee the release of Lu and
>Guo, and for the charges against them to be dropped. "We see the
>disastrous consequences of the Internet laws promulgated in 2000 by the
>Chinese authorities. The police services in charge of the Internet are now
>tracking down all web dissidents," noted RSF Secretary-General Robert
>Ménard.
>
>According to information collected by RSF, Lu was detained on 11 March
>2001 in Wuhan (central China). According to the Information Centre for
>Human Rights and Democracy, he was formally arrested on 20 April for
>"subversion". Lu is the author of several articles published on overseas
>websites. He has reported on human rights violations in China and openly
>criticised Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Guo, a bank employee, has been
>on trial since 3 April in a Hebei (northern China) court, for violating
>the law on the content of news published on the Internet. His family was
>not informed of the date of the trial. He wrote pro-democracy articles on
>an American web site.
>
>In a report entitled "Enemies of the Internet" (www.rsf.org) published in
>February, RSF wrote: "Over the past two years, the Chinese authorities
>have considerably changed their policy for controlling the Internet. The
>'Great Cyber Wall' strategy, implemented in 1997 by the Ministry of Public
>Security and the State Prosecutor, was abandoned in favour of selective
>enforcement and control carried out by ISPs and site managers themselves.
>...Chinese web dissidents are considered to be real criminals, and run the
>risk of hefty prison sentences."
>
>Four web dissidents are currently jailed in China: Qi Yanchen, chief
>editor of the online magazine "Consultations", arrested on 2 September
>1999 and sentenced to four years in jail (see IFEX alerts of 21 September,
>13 July, 26 and 5 June, 17 and 3 March and 26 January 2000 and 3 September
>1999); Huang Qi, creator of the website www.6-4tianwang.com, detained
>since 3 June 2000, whose trial was postponed (see alerts of 9 February and
>18 January 2001, 13 July, 26 and 7 June 2000); Jiang Shihua, teacher and
>owner of Silicon Valley Internet Cafe, jailed since 16 August 2000 and
>sentenced last December to two years in jail (see alerts of 14 March 2001
>and 22 August 2000); and Yang Zili, creator of the website
>www.lib.126.com, whose family has not been informed of his whereabouts
>since he was detained by the police on 13 March (see alert of 20 April
>2001).
>
>For further information, contact Vincent Brossel at RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy
>Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11
>51, e-mail: asie at rsf.fr, Internet: http://www.rsf.fr
>
>The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of RSF.
>In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>
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>
>
>
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
SARAI: The New Media Initiative
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
29, Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 052, India
www.sarai.net