eporters Without Borders today condemned the detention of dissident
jourlist Zheng Yichun, whose arrest on 3 December for writing articles
for publications and websites based abroad has only just emerged.
Zheng, who faces a heavy sentence on a charge of "subverting state power,"
is one of five dissident journalists to be arrested in the past four months,
along with Zhang Lin, Shi Tao, Yang Tianshui and Li Boguang.
Reporters Without Borders said it was outraged by Zheng's arrest and the
subversion charge, as his only crime was to express his views in articles
published abroad. "This wave of arrests of dissident journalists confirms
the virulence of the government's current campaign against liberal ideas
and intellectuals," the organization said, calling for Zheng's release.
Following his arrest by the Public Security Bureau on 3 December in
Yingkou in the northeastern province of Liaoning, Zheng was initially held
in a hotel. He was transferred to Panjin's No.1 prison, in the same province,
on 20 December. His lawyer, Li Ming-Chang, has been able to see him since
his arrest.
His family was notified of the subversion charge by the Yingkou prosecutor's
office on 31 December. Relatives were warned that there would be reprisals
if they informed the press or human rights organizations about his arrest.
They only decided to talk about after his arrest was reported in a Yingkou
daily newspaper on 24 February.
The Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC) has learned that the prosecutor's
office is citing 63 of Zheng's articles as evidence for the charges against him.
They were among 300 articles which the police confiscated from his home.
Aged 48 and a member for the Korean minority, Zheng has had four collections
of poems published in addition to some 200 political essays. Dozens of his
articles have recently been published in newspapers such as Da Ji Yuan
(Epoch Times) and websites such as Boxun and Min Zhu Lun Tan
(Democratic Forum), which are all based abroad. Prior to his arrest,
Zheng was also an English teacher at Liaoning university.
