July-December 2010 caselist - PEN International

the overseas Chinese web site Min Zhu Lun Tan (Democracy Forum).He has published several books of poetry. Recipient of the Committee toProtect Journalists (CPJ) International Press Freedom Award 2005. Placeof Detention: Deshan Prison, Postbox: 56-4, 415001 Changde City,Hunan Province. Health concerns: Since his transfer to Deshan Prisonin June 2007, his living conditions and health have reportedly improved,and he is no longer required to do hard physical labour. Other information:Recipient of CPJ’s 2005 International Press Freedom Award,PEN America’s 2006 Freedom to Write Award, WAN’s 2007 GoldenPen of Freedom. Honorary member of: Sydney, German, Canada, NewZealand, Swiss Italian, Swiss German, American, English, San Miguel,Independent Chinese PEN Centre, Scottish and USA PEN.TAN ZuorenD.o.b.: 15 May 1954 Profession: Literary editor, freelance writer andenvironmentalist. Date of arrest: 28 March 2009 Sentence: Five-yearprison sentence Expires: 27 March 2014 Details of arrest: Reportedlydetained by police in Chengdu City, province of Sichuan, on suspicionof subversion. On the day of his arrest, Tan’s home was raided by theauthorities and his books and writings were siezed. He is believed to beheld for his investigation into the deaths of school children when schoolbuildings collapsed after the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008. Details ofTrial: He was sentenced on 9 February 2010 for ‘inciting subversion ofstate power’. The verdict was announced in a five-minute hearing at theChengdu Intermediate Court. His wife and a number of Tan’s supporterswere not allowed to enter the court-room. The five-year convictionincludes a further three-year suspension of Tan’s political rights. Anappeal against the conviction has been announced. Place of detention:Currently held at Wenjian District Detention Centre, in Chendu city.Other information: He had reportedly planned to publish his findingson the Sichuan earthquake investigation in an independent report on thefirst anniversary of the earthquake, 12 May 2009. Tan is chief editor ofthe cultural magazine Wen Hua Ren and the founder of an environmentalorganisation ‘Green Rivers’. He has also published many articles andblogs online. (RAN 10/10 – 23 February 2010)WANG XiaoningD.o.b.: 7 January 1950 Profession: Internet writer and dissident. Dateof arrest: 1 September 2002 Sentence: 10 years in prison. Expires:31 August 2012 Details of arrest: Arrested on 1 September 2002 andcharged on 30 September 2002 with subversion for articles publishedon-line between 2000 and 2002. Details of trial: Sentenced to ten yearsin prison and two-year deprivation of political rights on 25 July 2003by the Beijing Municipal First Intermediary People’s Court. Thoughtto be specifically charged for articles published in the on-line journalsDemocratic Reform Free Forum and Current Political Commentarybetween 2000 and 2002. The journals reportedly included articleswritten by Wang under his real name and pen name advocating democraticreform and criticising the authorities. The journals were reportedlydistributed by email through Yahoo! groups that Wang establishedanonymously in mainland China and Hong Kong. Wang published hisarticles on a number of web sites in China and overseas. Wang was alsoaccused of advocating the establishment of the ‘China Third Road Party’and communicating by email with the leader of the China Social DemocraticParty, which is banned in China. Place of detention: Beijing No2 Prison, Chaoyang District, Beijing City Treatment in prison: Reportedlytortured. Honorary member: Independent Chinese PEN Centre.XU Wei and JIN Haike:Profession: Reporter for Xiaofei Ribao (Consumer Daily), and geologistand writer respectively. Date of arrest: 13 March 2001 Sentence: Tenyears in prison. Expires: 12 March 2011. Details of arrest: Arrested on13 March 2001 and charged with ‘subversion’ for their participation inthe ‘Xin Qingnian Xuehui’ (New Youth Study Group), an informal gatheringof individuals concerned with political and economic inequalitieswho used the internet to circulate relevant articles. Details of trial: On 28September 2001, the Beijing Intermediate Court initiated legal proceedingsagainst Xu Wei, Jin Haike, and two others since released, focusingon two essays circulated on the internet entitled ‘Be a new citizen,reform China’ and ‘What’s to be done’, which allegedly demonstratedthe groups’ intention to “overthrow the Chinese Communist Party’s leadershipand the socialist system and subvert the regime of the people’sdemocratic dictatorship”. No verdict was announced at the time, andproceedings against the four writers re-commenced on 21 April 2003.Lawyers for the four men argued that the failure to issue a verdict in thecase violates China’s Criminal Procedure Law, which stipulates that acourt must pronounce judgement within six weeks of accepting a case.On 28 May 2003 Xu Wei and Jin Haike were sentenced to ten years inprison, and the other two to eight years. Their appeal was reportedly heardon 3 November 2003, and apparently turned down. Health concerns: Itwas reported in February 2008 that both men were suffering from acutemedical problems, some of which do not appear to have been properlydiagnosed, and for which they are not receiving appropriate medicalattention. Jin Haike, who received abdominal surgery in November 2007,is reportedly in acute pain. Xu Wei was reportedly subjected to ill-treatmentin prison. In March 2009 Xu Wei was reported to have been transferredto a penitentiary in Yanqing, northwest of Beijing, after developinga mental illness whilst imprisoned. Other information: Xu Wei wasawarded the 2003 Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) InternationalPress Freedom Award. Place of detention: Jin Haike remainsheld in Beijing Prison No. 2. Honorary member of: Ghanaian and IndependentChinese PEN. (Update #1 to RAN 29/03 - 26 February 2008;Update #2 - 18 March 2009)XU ZerongD.o.b.: 14 January 1954 Profession: Research professor at ZhongshanUniversity, Guangzhou. Date of arrest: 24 June 2000 Sentence:13 years’ imprisonment, reduced twice by 19 months in total in 2006and 2008. Expires: 23 November 2011 Details of arrest: Arrested inthe city of Guangzhou, south China, and formally charged on 29 July2000 in connection with “the illegal publication of books and periodicals...since1993”. According to official sources, Xu had confessed to hiscrimes. Details of trial: Sentenced on 20 December 2001 by ShenzhenIntermediate Court to ten years’ imprisonment for leaking state secretsand five years’ imprisonment for illegal business activities, combined as13 years in prison. It appears that the first set of charges relate to hisuse of documents concerning Chinese military operations in the KoreanWar (1950-53), gathered in the course of his research; the second set ofcharges are thought to relate to the allegedly illegal publication of booksand periodicals and the sale of book authorisation numbers since 1993.The Guangdong Province Higher People’s Court upheld Xu’s convictionon appeal in late December 2002. His sentence has been reduced twicein 2006 and 2008 by a total of 18 months. Place of detention: Moved toRican Prison, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. Said to be held inthe section of the prison reserved for elderly and sick prisoners. Treat-45