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

Find

the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific

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the IFJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/IFJAsiaPacific