Chinese online editor jailed
p2pnet.net news:- Zhang Jianhong, former editor-in-chief of the Chinese “Aiqinhai” or “Aegean Sea” site, has been given a six-year prison term for subversion, says state news agency Xinhua.
Sentenced by the Ningbo Intermediate People’s Court in east China’s Zhejiang Province, he’d “written articles which defamed the Chinese government and amounted to agitation aimed at toppling the government,” says the story, going on:
“The court found that Zhang, after his website was shut down and he himself was punished for illegal practices, had published over 110 articles under the pseudonym ‘Lihong’ on overseas websites from May to September 2006. The statement said that in more than 60 articles, Zhang had slandered the government and China’s social system to vent his discontent with the government.”
A member of the Chinese branch of the independent writers association PEN, Zhang was arrested in September 2006 and was charged the following month with “incitement to subvert the state’s authority” for calling for online political reform in articles posted on the Internet, says Reporters Without Borders.
“Two other cyber-dissidents who were arrested six months ago, Chen Shuqing and Yang Maodong, are still awaiting trial.”
He also wrote regularly for sites such as Boxun and The Epoch Times, says the post adding:
“He already spent a year and a half in a reeducation-through-work camp for ‘counter-revolutionary propaganda’ after getting involved in the 1989 pro-democracy movement.
“Chen’s case has been sent back to the police for further investigation. A member of the banned China Democracy Party (CDP), he was charged on 17 October 2006 with ‘incitement to subvert the state’s authority.’ He was already detained for four months in 1999 for helping to create the CDP.
“Better known as Guo Feixiong, Yang was arrested on 14 September 2006. A lawyer, writer and human rights activist, he has been accused of ‘illegal business activity.’ He was previously arrested for ‘disturbing the peace’ after a rally on 13 September 2005 in the village of Taishi (in Guangdong province).”
Also See:
Xinhua – Former website editor-in-chief jailed for six years, March 19, 2007
Reporters Without Borders – Cyber-dissident Zhang Jianhong (”Li Hong”) gets six years in prison, March 19, 2007
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