China Jails Reporter Over Essays on Graft By JOE McDONALD, Associated Press Writer http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/07/13/international/i05594 5D93.DTL
Thursday, July 13, 2006 (07-13) 05:59 PDT BEIJING, China (AP) -- A Chinese reporter who posted essays on foreign Web sites criticizing the ruling Communist Party was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison on subversion charges, his lawyer said. Meanwhile, a reporter who was convicted in a case that caused an uproar after Yahoo Inc. handed over e-mails to Chinese prosecutors has appealed and asked to be released to see a doctor, a human rights monitoring center said. Press freedom groups say China is the world's leading jailer of journalists, with at least 42 behind bars, most on charges of violating vague subversion or security laws. Li Yuanlong, a reporter for the newspaper Bijie Daily in the southern city of Bijie, was detained in September after posting essays on foreign Web sites. Li was convicted by the Bijie Intermediate People's Court of "inciting subversion" and sentenced to two years, said his lawyer, Li Jianqiang, who is no relation. Foreign journalism groups had appealed for Li's release. His lawyer said Li pleaded innocent at his 2 1/2-hour trial in May. Li's essays, written under the pen name Ye Lang or "Night Wolf," included "On Becoming an American in Spirit" and "The Banal Nature of Life and the Lamentable Nature of Death." They were published on Web sites that are banned in China, including Boxun News, the Falun Gong-affiliated Epoch Times, ChinaEWeekly, and New Century Net, according to earlier reports. Meanwhile, reporter Shi Tao, who was sentenced last year to 10 years on charges of leaking state secrets, has appealed and asked for release to see a doctor, said the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy. Shi, 37, has contracted a lung condition and a skin disease while in prison, according to his family. An employee who answered the phone at the High Court in Hunan province, where the Information Center said Shi's appeal was filed, said he had no information on the case. Shi was accused of revealing the contents of a secret official memo about media restrictions. Journalism activists criticized Yahoo Inc. after it emerged that the company turned over e-mail from Shi's account to prosecutors. Gregory S. Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
