Rights groups around the world on Tuesday condemned the five year sentencing of an embattled Chinese webmaster who has launched an appeal against his conviction on charges of inciting subversion.
Huang Qi was jailed for five years for allowing disgruntled Chinese to post anti-government messages on his website. He was convicted by a court in Chengdu, Sichuan province on May 9 in a trial that started in January 2001.
”The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the five year sentence recently handed down to internet publisher Huang Qi,” the New York-based group said in an open letter to President Hu Jintao.
”As a non-partisan organisation for journalists dedicated to defending our colleagues world wide, CPJ condemns the use of criminal charges against Huang Qi, who has done nothing more than exercise his constitutional right to free expression.”
Other rights groups also expressed dismay.
”Reporters without Borders is outraged by this unjust conviction which follows three years of abusive incarceration and comes at a time when the media attention and international opinion is focused on the Sars epidemic,” the Paris-based group said.
It appealed to Hu for the immediate release of Huang and a review of his trial.
According to Huang’s website www.6-4tianwang.com, he appealed his sentence on May 18. The appeal maintained his innocence and cited China’s constitution which guarantees the rights of freedom of speech and press.
The trial was held in semi-secrecy and Huang’s wife Zeng Li was not allowed to witness the sentencing, only learning of the conviction after calling the court, the website said.
The case has underscored the communist leadership’s battle to prevent the dissemination of material deemed subversive or otherwise unacceptable via the internet.
The website originally listed information on people that had gone missing, but soon became a site that listed people who had disappeared into police custody, usually for their own political or religious beliefs.
Dozens of other Chinese web surfers, many also posting anti-government articles on the internet or loudly protesting Huang’s arrest, have subsequently been rounded up by Chinese police and are presumably awaiting trial.
Huang’s long-drawn out trial has been a cause of global concern, while his former website, now administered outside of China, has sought donations to help finance the meager income of Zeng Li and her son. – Sapa-AFP