IFJ Condemns Sentence of Sichuan Writer

IFJ Condemns Sentence of Sichuan Writer After Failed Appeal

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the Chengdu Intermediate Court in China after it upheld a sentence of five years’ imprisonment for writer Tan Zuoren

Tan had appealed the sentence, handed down in February, on charges of inciting subversion of state power after he had written articles about the Tiananmen Square Massacre and the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and also accepted interviews with foreign media.

The conviction includes a three-year suspension of Tan’s political rights.

“I’m not surprised with the outcome,” Wang Qinghua, Tan’s wife, said.

Wang was allowed to enter the court to witness the appeal, but her two daughters were denied entry. Wang was denied entry in the February hearing.

Tan was indicted on July 17 last year, accused of causing damage to the image of China’s Government in articles he wrote about the 1989 Tiananmen Square democratic movement and massacre, which were uploaded onto the United States-based Torch of Liberty website on May 27, 2007.

At his appeal, several Hong Kong and foreign journalists were prevented from taking photographs outside the court building.

“The police said reporters can write but not take photos,” a Hong Kong journalist said.

One of Tan’s daughters was detained for an hour by the police after she took images outside the court.

No media outlets in China have reported Tan’s case. Nor have they reported further details of the Sichuan earthquake after the Central Propaganda Department issued orders from February 2009 to block independent news reports on the issue.

According to Radio Television Hong Kong, a volunteer who assisted Tan in his investigations of the earthquake was placed under house arrest yesterday by the Chengdu security bureau.

At the previous sentencing hearing, Hong Kong and other foreign journalists were subject to disruption and harassment. At the time, the IFJ raised concerns in a letter to Vice-President Xi Jinping, Premier Wen Jiabao and the Minister of Public Security, the Governor of Sichuan Province, and the director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.

“China’s Constitution enshrines freedom of expression and the principle of a fair trial, yet this case is another glaring example that shows these words are a nothing but a façade,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said.

“It is deeply frustrating that the authorities are continuing to attempt to block media personnel from exercising their professional duties despite numerous assurances from President Hu Jintao that press freedom would be respected in China,” he said.

The IFJ urges China’s authorities to honour their repeated promises to uphold press freedom and demands the immediate release of Tan Zuoren.

ENDS

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