18 February 2008
His Excellency President Hu Jintao
President of the People¡¯s Republic of China
Beijing, People¡¯s Republic of China
18 February 2008
Your Excellency,
We are writing on behalf of the World
Association of Newspapers and the
World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000
publications in 102
countries, to express our serious concern at
the jailing of
cyber-dissident Lu Gengsong.
According to reports, on 5 February the
Intermediate People's Court of
Hangzhou sentenced Mr Lu, a freelance writer
and former lecturer, to four
years in jail for ¡°inciting subversion of
state power¡±. Only Mr Lu¡¯s
immediate family were permitted to attend
the court hearing.
Mr Lu was arrested in September 2007 after
publishing extensively on
graft, including a book entitled ¡°Corrupted
Officials in China¡±, which was
published in Hong Kong in 2000. He has also
reported on cases of illegal
eviction.
We are seriously concerned that Chinese
authorities are not respecting the
commitments they made in the Olympic bid,
and are increasingly clamping
down on freedom of expression advocates and
journalists.
We respectfully remind you that the
Organising Committee for the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games issued the ¡°Beijing
Olympic Action Plan¡± in 2002,
which laid out guiding principles and a
series of promises as part of
Beijing's preparation to be the host city.
Specifically the Plan
promised: ¡°In the preparation for the Games,
we will be open in every
aspect to the rest of the country and the
whole world. We will draw on the
successful experience of others and follow
the international standards
and criteria.¡±
In accordance with this pledge and numerous
international conventions,
declarations and agreements ¨C including the
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights ¨C we call upon the Chinese
authorities to free all jailed
journalists and cyber-dissidents ahead of
the Olympic Games. According to
reports, at least 30 journalists and 50
cyber-dissidents are currently
held in Chinese prisons.
We respectfully call on you to take all
necessary steps to ensure that Mr
Lu and all others detained for exercising
their right to freedom of
expression are immediately released from
prison and that charges against
them are dropped.
We look forward to hearing from you at your
earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Gavin O¡¯Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers
George Brock
President
World Editors Forum
WAN is the global organization for the
newspaper industry, with formal
representative status at the United Nations,
UNESCO and the Council of
Europe. The organization groups 18,000
newspapers in 102 countries, 12
news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide
press groups. WAN is
non-governmental and non-profit.
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