p2pnet news view Politics | Freedom:-  The arrest of Chinese cyber-dissident Du Daobin yesterday just before the start of the Beijing Olympics has been condemned by Reporters Without Borders.

Chinese Net police say he violated the terms of his probation by posting more than 100 articles on foreign sites the terms, of his probation by posting more than 100 articles on overseas websites, leaving Yingcheng, in the central province of Hubei, without permission, and receiving visitors without telling the authorities.

Police confiscated computer and letters sent to him while he was imprisoned from October 2003 to June 2004, says RWB, going on:

“He was released into house arrest on 11 June 2004, when a court convicted him of inciting subversion of the state and sentenced him to three years in prison and four years of house arrest.”

He’s the third cyber-dissident to be imprisoned in the run-up to the Olympic Games, after Hu Jia and Huang Qi, says the  organisation, adding:

“The Chinese authorities fear the influence of these Internet users and find it increasingly difficult to rein them in. We call for Du’s release and the withdrawal of the charges against
him.”

Du, 43, called for more democracy and freedom of expression in China.

“Prior to his arrest in October 2003, he posts also called for the release of Liu Di, a young student who was imprisoned for posting messages on online forums advocating democracy in China,” says RWB.

She was freed in 2003 after more than a year in prison without being tried.

Posted 26 essays

In 2004, when Du was released on probation, Reporters Without Borders called it a Pyrrhic victory.

“It allows Du to leave prison but it puts him under such a degree of police surveillance that his freedom is illusory,” it said, going on

This sentence aims both to silence a human rights activist and at the same time appease those in China and abroad who criticised his imprisonment.”

Du’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, said neither he nor Du were allowed to say a word during the trial, which lasted just 15 minutes. Du was able to go home but he will have to report to the police each week for the next four years. Mo said his client “recognises having posted 26 essays on the Internet but refuses to admit that this is a crime and still less that it is a crime of subversion.”

Reporters Without Borders has meanwhile learned that Chinese academic Liu Xiaobo, whose whereabouts had been unknown since 28 May (on the eve of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacres), was reachable at his home today although his Internet connection is still cut. Along with some 100 other Chinese intellectuals, Liu had issued an appeal to the authorities for Du’s release in February.

With a total of 61 cyber-dissidents detained, China is the world’s biggest prison for those who try to express themselves freely online, states RWB.

It’s also the country where email interception and online censorship have been developed the most, it adds.

. .Stumble It!

Reporters Without Borders -Cyber-dissident Du Daobin finally falls victim to permanent threat of reimprisonment, July 24, 2008
Pyrrhic victory - Cyber-dissident Du Daobin sentenced to four years of house arrest, June 11, 2006 

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 11:23 am and is filed under Politics, Freedom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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