The International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply concerned by reports that police in
China charged a writer with inciting
subversion of state power for distributing “jasmine revolution” information
online.
Sichuan Literature magazine writer Ran
Yunfei, a signatory of the Charter 08 manifesto, was detained by police and may
have been charged according to a February 24 report in German newspaper Deutsche Welle.
Many bloggers,
journalists and dissidents have been detained
by police since the “jasmine
revolution” information began spreading through the internet on February 19,
reports said. Police have blocked, harassed and detained journalists when they
tried to cover a protest on February 27, the second protest in China
held on successive Sundays, with the first held on February 20.
“Journalists have the
right to report any protest regardless of whether it is in China, Egypt or Libya,” IFJ General Secretary
Aidan White said.
“Police have no
legitimate claim to block, detain or harass journalists nor to charge anyone who
exercises their right of access to information under the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.”
According to a number of
reports by Hong Kong media outlets, several journalists including Hong Kong, Taiwan and foreign journalists were blocked and
detained by police when they were covering a protest on February 27 in
Wangfujing, Beijing. ATV reported that a camera operator
and reporter and a TVB camera
operator were detained for a few hours before they were released. It was
reported that one of ATV news clips capturing the
protest was deleted by police
officers during the journalists’
detention.
On the same day Bloomberg
TV journalist Stephen Engle was pushed to the ground by police and his head was
then beaten with a broom handle by a man who dressed like as a street sweeper in
Beijing,
according to the Wall Street
Journal.
The IFJ has also learned
that journalists from foreign media outlets one from Radio
Free Asia and another from Kyodo (Japan) had their identities
checked by police in Guangzhou on February 27.
“One of the plainclothes
officers pretended to be a “protester” and got closer to me – he thought that I
was a protester and then he tried to get information from me,” said one of the
journalists, who requested anonymity.
“He used his iPhone to
photograph my face and my identity was checked by a policeman in uniform
immediately after I left the plainclothes officer.”
The IFJ urges the Human
Rights Council to demand that United Nations member countries sincerely uphold freedom of
the press and demand the immediate release of people detained during the recent
protests in China.
For further information contact IFJ
Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 125
countries
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@ifjasiapacific
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