Media Release: China
August 28, 2013
The International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ) condemns the
decision by the Chinese police to charge a journalist with disturbing public
order after he exposed a Government official suspected of involvement in a corruption
case.
Liu Hu, a journalist with the Guangdong-based
newspaper New Express, wrote about
the case on the internet using his real name. Liu was reportedly detained on August
23 in Chongqing
by Beijing
police officers. Police also ransacked his house and took away his computers
and bank cards. His wife, Qin Ling, posted a message on her weibo, or microblog,
confirming that Liu was charged on August 24 with disturbing public order.
Although Qin did not mention
which corruption case was involved, it is widely believed that Liu was charged because
he used his microblog on July 29 to expose a case that may have involved Ma
Zhengqi when he was the vice mayor of Chongqing.
Ma is the Vice Minister of State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
According to Mainland media reports, a spokesperson for the State
Administration for Industry and Commerce said the case had been reported to the
SAIC management, but the spokesperson did not reveal the name of the manager involved.
Liu’s microblog account has been
suspended by the Sina weibo website
without any reason being given. As a result, all the cases that Liu has exposed
in his microblog now cannot be accessed by the public.
According to Associated Press, Liu’s
defence lawyer, Zhou Ze, queried whether police had abused their power by charging
someone with disturbing public order simply for posting a message online.
The IFJ Asia-Pacific Office said:
“It seems that a new crackdown on online reports is gathering strength. Several
people have already been detained and charged by police after they posted
messages on the internet.”
The Chinese police have frequently
used the criminal charge of “disturbing public order” to curb people’s freedom
of speech on the internet.
Qin Zhihui, Yang Xiuyu and Zhou
Lubao have been detained and accused by police of disseminating rumours in the
internet. The Chinese police said the accused people had manipulated false reports
and stirred up rumours in an effort to become well known.
One of the “rumours” that police cited
concerned Lei Feng, a Chinese Communist Party national hero. Qin queried
whether Lei existed.
The IFJ Asia-Pacific Office said:
“It is disturbing that a chill has been imposed by police action, restraining
freedom of speech on the internet across the country on the pretext of fighting
rumours.”
We urge the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights to look into the situation in China, where
the internet has been widely adopted as a means of communication by the people.
This is particularly important for people in a country that lacks genuine
freedom of speech.
For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131
countries
Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific
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