Jail terms for three Uyghur webmasters accused of jeopardising state security
Calling for their immediate release and the quashing of their convictions, Reporters Without Borders accuses China’s authorities of persecuting its Uyghur minority,
“Despite the lack of information about the trial, the government’s intention was clear, to shut down the spaces available for expression,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The three webmasters have been unjustly punished and their sentences are disproportionate. These attempts to intimidate must stop.”
Business reporter taken off “most wanted” list
“We welcome the apology that the Suichang police have given to Qiu Ziming and we call for a transparent investigation into why he was placed on a national list of wanted criminals,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We also call for the immediate release of Gheyret Niyaz, who was convicted on charges of contributing to a website that incited violence and providing foreign journalists with information about the July 2009 riots in Xinjiang.”
Uyghur journalist and website editor sentenced to fifteen years in jail
Reporters Without Borders said it was outraged at the harshness of a 15-year prison sentence handed down today to journalist Gheyret Niyaz by a court in Urumqi, in Xinjiang province.
He was arrested in October 2009 following ethnic unrest in Xinjiang in July 2009 and found guilty of “threatening national security” after criticising Chinese official policy towards the Uyghurs, sending news about the riots to foreign journalists and contributing to a website accused of inciting violence.
“We are utterly astonished at the outcome of this trial,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “Gheyret Niyaz did indeed make some criticism of Chinese policy in his region, but he is neither a criminal nor a dissident. He is seen by Uyghurs based abroad as supporting China’s administration of Xinjiang and even shares some of the Chinese government’s views of the summer 2009 unrest.
Authorities turn their sights on microblogging
“This latest censorship attempt shows that the Chinese authorities, who are obsessed with maintaining political stability, mistrust microblogging and its potential for spreading information and mobilising the public,” Reporters Without Borders said.
“Nonetheless, despite the massive resources that the regime deploys to control the Internet, it is impossible to keep track of all the flow of information on Twitter and its Chinese equivalents,” the press freedom organisation added. “Microblogging is also used by the government itself as well as by millions of Chinese who have nothing to do with dissidents.”
Two young Tibetan writers arrested in raid on university in Gansu
“We fear that these two young Tibetan writers will be mistreated during their first few weeks in detention,” Reporters Without Borders. “We urge the authorities in Gansu province to provide information about what is happening to them. And if their arrests are linked to their writing, we call for their release.”
Tashi Rabten and Druklo were arrested when 16 armed policemen raided their hostel at the Northwest National Minorities University, where they are students. The police searched their rooms, confiscating books in Tibetan, their mobile phones, their laptops and their course material.