“Huang Qi did what any Chinese citizen would have done in his place”
After speaking yesterday with Zeng Li, the wife of imprisoned cyber-dissident Huang Qi, Reporters Without Borders today publishes a transcript of her comments, in which she describes his arrest as “unfair and unacceptable.” “Huang is the victim of the Chinese judicial system's lack of independence,” Reporters Without Borders said.
Chronology 1999: Creation of the 64Tianwang website, with the original aim of posting information about people missing in Sichuan province. 2000 - 2005: Huang is arrested on 3 June 2000 and is given a five-year prison sentence on a “subversion” charge for posting articles on his website about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre that were written by exiled dissidents. He is tortured while held in Nanchong high security prison. 2003: Reporters Without Borders and French journalist Patrick Poivre d'Arvor meet his wife and son in Chengdu (see “I know my husband is innocent” interview ). 2004 : Reporters Without Borders awards Huang its “Cyber-Freedom” prize for defending free expression and human rights online. 2005 : Huang Qi is free 20 May 2008: Huang posts an article on the 64Tianwang site criticising the Chinese media's coverage of the earthquake: “The reports we are seeing are biased. In reality, it is very difficult for NGOs to deliver food aid. They are obliged to go through government channels. The government is using its propaganda to portray itself as a saviour to little avail. Few citizens trust the government because of the corruptions scandals that already occurred during similar disasters in the past.” 10 June 2008: Huang is arrested by three policemen in Chengdu and is held in the city's main prison. 10 July 2008: The police confirm to his family that the results of their investigation have been passed to the prosecutor's office, which now has three months to reach a decision. 18 July 2008: Huang is formally charged with “illegal possession of state secrets” (see the official document). 18 September 2008: Huang will be allowed to see his lawyer, Mo Shaoping, for the first time. All of Mo's requests to see him have until now been refused. |