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 Cyber-dissident
Du Daobin sentenced to four years of house arrest
China 11 June 2004
A sentence of four years of house arrest passed today
on Chinese cyber-dissident Du Daobin by a court in
Xiaogan (in the central province of Hubei) is lenient
compared with the long jail terms usually imposed on
cyber-dissidents in China, Reporters Without Borders
acknowledged.
But the fact remains that Du was unfairly convicted on
the baseless charge of "inciting subversion of the
state," the organisation stressed.
Arrested on 28 October 2003 for posting articles on
the Internet advocating democracy and respect for
human rights, Du was also sentenced to loss of civic
rights for two years.
"This is a Pyrrhic victory," Reporters Without Borders
said. "It allows Du to leave prison but it puts him
under such a degree of police surveillance that his
freedom is illusory. This sentence aims both to
silence a human rights activist and at the same time
appease those in China and abroad who criticised his
imprisonment."
Du's lawyer, Mo Shaoping, said neither he nor Du were
allowed to say a word during the trial, which lasted
just 15 minutes. Du was able to go home but he will
have to report to the police each week for the next
four years. Mo said his client "recognises having
posted 26 essays on the Internet but refuses to admit
that this is a crime and still less that it is a crime
of subversion."
Reporters Without Borders has meanwhile learned that
Chinese academic Liu Xiaobo, whose whereabouts had
been unknown since 28 May (on the eve of the
anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacres), was
reachable at his home today although his Internet
connection is still cut. Along with some 100 other
Chinese intellectuals, Liu had issued an appeal to the
authorities for Du's release in February.
With a total of 61 cyber-dissidents detained, China is
the world's biggest prison for those who try to
express themselves freely online. It is also the
country where e-mail interception and online
censorship have been developed the most. Reporters
Without Borders will issue a new report on the
obstacles to the free flow of information online in
some 60 countries on 22 June. It will be available on
the Reporters Without Borders website (www.internet.rsf.org).
Background :
Du was arrested as he returned home from work on 28
October 2003. After detaining him, police searched his
home and confiscated computer material, letters, an
address book and copies of books published abroad.
They "strongly advised" his wife, Xia Chun-rong, and
his 12-year-old son to have no contact with foreign
journalists. They also told his wife that Du "went too
far."
Aged 40, Du posted many articles online calling
peacefully for more democracy and freedom of
expression in China. His posts also called for the
release of fellow cyber-dissident Liu Di, a young
student who was imprisoned for posting messages in
online forums called for democracy in China. She was
released on 28 November 2003 after more than a year in
prison without being tried.
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