Journalist Case File: Zhang Jianhong

Zhang was a freelance writer from 寧波 (Ningbo), 浙江省 (Zhejiang Province), He was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, plus a further years suspension of political rights, by the Ningbo Intermediate court, on a charge of Incitement to subvert the state's power - A catch-all charge used by Beijing to detain and try those whom calls for changes in government policy, or whom reveal information tha embarrasses or contradicts the state.

Prior to his detention, Zhang was the editor of the commentary website 爱琴海 (Aegean Sea/Aiqinghai.net), which he founded in August 2005, and which featured a number of articles on politically sensitive subjects.

In March 2006, authorities determined that Zhang was using his site to publish news stories without permission, and closed 爱琴海 down (under Chinese law, state permission is required to publish news stories). However, Zhang continued to publish commentary through overseas Chinese language websites, such as Including "Boxun" and 大紀元 (The Epoch Times) - the later of which is backed by the banned FLG spiritual movement - under the assumed name "Li Hong".

Zhang's arrest finally came in September 2006 and, in October 2006, he was formally charged with "incitement to subvert the state's power" in connection with 60 articles that he had published on on the Internet.

Some observers have linked his arrest to pieces that he published in support of human rights lawyer 高智晟 (Gao Zhisheng), while others believe that his detention was primarily due to articles which had been highly critical of Beijing's human rights record in the run up to the 2008 Olympic games. According Xinhua, China's state controlled media agency, he was detained because he had "slandered the government and China's social system".

International Criticism

Zhang's detention and sentencing have met with heavy criticism from international human writes and press freedom groups who have decried it as an attack on freedom of speech, and who have called on Beijing to release Zhang and other political prisoners.

Sending a Message to the West?

According to Zhang's lawyer, Li Jianqiang, Zhang's which was longer than is normal for a dissident writer, may have been an act of retribution against the US, which, several days prior to his sentencing, published a scathing report on China's human rights record, which mentioned Zhang by name.

Hiding Meanings

When reporting on the incident, Chinese media refused to specify why Zhang had been sentenced, or to discuss the reasons for his detention. Giving only a general description of the charges laid against him, but not describing the contents of the material used in his trial in any meaningful detail. This is standard practice in China, and is often done to reduce the public's ability scrutinize the sentencing of dissidents, and to prevent the issues on which they have dissented from becoming topics of discussion in themselves.

History

Zhang has a history of speacking out against the government. In 1989, Zhang was sentenced to 18 months in a work camp for his support of democratic reform. Officially, the charges against him were that he had spread "counterrevolutionary propaganda".

Zhang is a member of Chinese PEN

tags: china  human rights  journalist  jail  goal  imprison  imprisoned  the epoch times  boxun  pen  zhan jianhon  li hong  

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