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Disident Case Files Li Jianping
posted Thursday, 26 October 2006
Name: Li Jianping
Clasification: cyber-dissident
Charge: "incitement to subvert state power"
Date Imprisoned: January 2004
Sentence: 3 Years
Li Jianging is a Chinese businessman who maintains a medical equipment supply company in Shandong Province, he is also a survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
In April 2006 Li was sentenced to 3 years in prison on a charge of inciting others to subvert the power of the state after he was found to have posted 30+ essays on a number of overseas websites which criticized government restrictions on free speech, and supporter public protests in Hong Kong against Article 23; a controversial security bill that would have given the territories puppet government sweeping powers to investigate, sentence and imprison Hong Kong residents who spoke out against the mainland.
| "The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies." Article 23 |
According to an account given by Li's wife, on 25 May 2005 Li was contacted by Chinese security forces, his passport was confiscated and he was told that he was being investigated for using the Internet to disseminate material that was instigating others subvert the power of the government.
On 26 May officials from China's Internet Control Committee raided raided his home and claimed that they had discovered pornographic images on his computer.
on 28 May, security forces searched Li's conducted a second search of Li's home and business. At this time they confiscated his computer and seized his banking records.
On 30 June Li was formally detained for 'committing slander against the state by disseminating documents that had harmed the image of the government overseas'. This was later upgraded to subversion.
However, Chinese officials twice (12 October and 26 December) refused to press the case further due to the poor quality of the evidence gathered against Li. Due to these delays, he remained in custody without trial or charge until 9 March 2006 in direct breach to Chinese law; which mandates a maximum period of 3 1/2 months. His trial was held in April.
During his detention he was frequently denied access to lawyer and permission to contact his family.
In response to questions about Li's detention, Chu Maoming, the press officer for the Chinese embassy in Washington, denied that Beijing was attempting to silence it critics.
| "No one in China is jailed for expressing their views" Chu Maoming, Press Officer, Chinese Embassy, Washington, US |
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