1 March 2010

CHINA: Writer Tan Zuoren sentenced
 
RAN 10/10


International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) strongly protests the five-year prison sentence handed to writer and activist Tan Zuoren on 9 February 2009, for ‘inciting subversion of state power’. International PEN believes that Tan Zuoren’s conviction and continuing imprisonment are in direct violation of his right to freedom of expression and opinion, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release according to Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory.

According to International PEN’s information, Tan Zuoren, aged 55, a freelance writer, editor and activist, was arrested in Chengdu city, province of Sichuan, on 28 March 2009. It is thought that Tan’s conviction is linked to one of his essays entitled ‘Witnessing the Final Beauty – An Eyewitness’s Diary of the Square’. This piece was reportedly about the 1989 Tiananmen Square movement and massacre, and was published in three parts in overseas Chinese websites in 2007. There are also reports that Tan is being punished for conducting an investigation into the death of school children in the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Tan Zuoren’s verdict was announced in a five-minute hearing at the Chengdu Intermediate Court. His wife and a number of Tan’s supporters were not allowed to enter the court-room. The five-year conviction includes a further three-year suspension of Tan’s political rights. An appeal against the conviction has been announced. Tan is currently held at Wenjian District Detention Centre, in Chendu city.

Tan Zuoren is chief editor of the cultural magazine Wen Hua Ren and the founder of an environmental organisation ‘Green Rivers’. He has also published many articles and blogs online.

For further information see:
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-condemns-sentencing-of-sichuan-writer
Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) http://crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class10/201002/20100210232045_19884.html

Recommended Action

Minimum action: send one appeal to one or more of the government addresses below.

Further Action: write a similar appeal to the Chinese Ambassador in your country or send a copy of your letter to China asking him/her to comment on your concerns.

Consider electing Tan Zuoren as an Honorary Member of your Centre – please let the PEN office in London know if you do so, and we will give you a case sheet and further advice on what you can do to support his case.

Please send appeals:
- Protesting the five-year prison sentence handed down to Tan Zuoren;
- Calling for his immediate and unconditional release if held in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory.
Send appeals to:
His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People’s Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R. China

Chief Judge Mr. WANG Shengjun
President of the Supreme People’s Court
No.27 Dongjiaominxiang
Dongcheng District, Beijing 100745
P.R. China

Please note that there are no fax numbers for the Chinese authorities. WiPC recommends that you copy your appeal to the Chinese embassy in your country asking them to forward it and welcoming any comments.

Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for China in your country if possible.

**Please contact the PEN WiPC office in London if sending appeals after 15 April 2010**
For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@internationalpen.org.uk

Cathy McCann
Researcher, Asia/Middle East
International PEN Writers in Prison Committee
Brownlow House
50-51 High Holborn
London WC1V 6ER.
Tel.+44 (0)20 7405 0338
Fax: +44 (0)20 7405 0339
www.internationalpen.org.uk

International PEN is a UK Registered Charity No. 1117088 and a Company Registered in England No. 05683997, Registered Office: Brownlow House, 50/51High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER