The
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply concerned by the
management of the Xi’an Evening Newspaper ‘s decision to suspend one of its journalists after he reported on corruption
allegations made against the Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party for the
township of Dali, in China’s northern Sha’anxi province.
On June 30, Shi
Junrong, journalist for the Xi’an Evening
Newspaper, was suspended from dutyafter
he had raised allegations of corruption against the Secretary of the Chinese
Communist Party for the township of Dali on June 26.
In the
report, Shi queried how Dali’s Secretary can afford to smoke high-end cigarettes,
at a cost of 1,000 Chinese Yuan (approximately USD 158) per carton, given their official monthly salary is understood
to be quite low. When
contacted by Shi on the telephone, the
Secretary claimed the cigarettes belonged to his ‘comrade’. Four days later, the newspaper suspended
Shi from duty, with the explanation that he did not interview all of the people involved in
the story.
The
suspension sparked outrage among Shi’s colleagues in the media, with many
suspecting the decision was made as a result of political pressure.
“The media
has an important role as a ‘watchdog’ on government, as Premier Wen has said publicly on
various occasions”, IFJ Asia-Pacific said.
“The media have a duty to investigate issues of great public concern that supercedes
any obligation to political parties or officials”.
IFJ calls for the
newspaper to immediately revoke the decision to suspend Shi immediately, and urges
the All Chinese
Journalists Association to fulfil their duties to investigate the case and to protect the rights and interests of China’s
media personnel.
The Xi’an Evening Newspaper was
established by the Communist Party of Xian in 1953.
For
further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950
The
IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries
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the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific
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