Media Release: China
July 10, 2013
The
International Federation of Journalists welcomes the release of photographer Du Bin by Beijing police
after he was detained for more than a month.
Du,
41, a former New
York Times photographer, was detained by Fengtai district police on May 31.
He was released on July 8 but the police imposed a restriction on his movement
for a period of one year.
“I have to report to them if I change my telephone
number or residential address,” Du added. “I can’t leave China because
all my travelling documents, my identity card, my credit card and even my bank
account card are detained by police.”
Early in his detention, police accused of him spreading
rumours and disturbing public order but the charge was later altered and Du was
then accused of provocation and disturbing public order.
Rather than question him on those allegations during
his interrogation, police instead kept asking about his motives for writing
books and filming a documentary. “I denied all [the] accusations. I did not
violate any law. I neither have any motive to overthrow Communist Party of
China nor any particular motive to write my books. I created my books and
documentaries merely because I‘m a human being. I have to record all the voices
of victims when they face suppression.”
Du said: “I believe they detained me because I
wrote Tiananmen Square Massacre and
because I created the documentary Masanjia
Women’s Labour Camp which exposed human rights violations taking place
inside the camp. They also disliked that I accepted interviews with Sound of the Hope and Epoch Times, both media outlets
supported by Falun Gong.”
The IFJ welcomes Du‘s release but condemns the ongoing
police restrictions on his freedom of movement and the deprivation of his
rights by refusing to return his personal belongings. “The police must accept
Du did not violate any law. He is a journalist, a writer and a filmmaker. The
police cannot continue to abuse to deprive a citizen of his basic human rights
especially when that person has done no wrong,” the IFJ Asia- Pacific said.
The IFJ urges Minister of Public Security Guo
Shengkun to investigate the case and ensure police free Du without any restrictions
on his movement, return his personal belongings and issue a public apologise for
his false detention. The IFJ also urges the All Chinese Journalists Association
to investigate the issue and campaign to ensure journalists are free from
police harassment and their rights are observed and protected by the
authorities.
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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