Arrested a year ago today, Sichuan website editor is wasting away in prison

Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the release of Huang Qi, a cyber-dissident who was arrested a year ago today in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, on a charge of “illegal possession of state secrets” after posting accounts of the previous month’s earthquake on his human rights website. Still awaiting trial, Huang is now in very poor health. His wife, Zeng Li, his mother, his Beijing-based lawyer Mo Shaoping, and another lawyer went to visit him in Chengdu prison on 26 May but only Mo, who is seeking his release, was allowed to see him. Mo recently also called for the released Liu Xiaobo, an intellectual whose house arrest without trial for more than six months was illegal, he said. “We call for Huang Qi to be freed without delay as he has serious health problems and the conditions in which he is being held pose a threat to his life,” Reporters Without Borders said. “He needs access to treatment urgently. His wife’s account shows how desperately he needs help.” Zeng Li has written the following account of the prison visit: “At 10:30 a.m., after an hour’s wait, Mo Shaoping was allowed to see Huang Qi for an hour. He told us that Huang Qi has lost a lot of weight. He is worried about whether his son will pass the exam he has to sit soon to get into university. He also asked his lawyer about what is going on in the world and requested news of his friends. “In February, or thereabouts, Lu Dachun, Huang Xiaomin and 17 other people demonstrated outside the Chengdu courthouse to demand Huang Qi’s released. Seven of them were arrested, including Lu Dachun, who fell seriously ill. He was given several days of ‘bed punishment’ in the court hospital, with his legs chained. Huang Qi asked for his family to be helped and to be given legal assistance. “He also said that he has had a tumour on the left side of his chest since March. Tumours of the size of a little finder have appeared in his stomach and chest. He often has headaches, his heart often races, he is losing his sight and he only sleeps for four hours a night. His mother and I are very worried about his health. “This afternoon, I wrote a request for his release on bail and I plan to take it to the court tomorrow. According to his lawyer, the deadline for the start of his trial after receipt of the indictment on 14 January has expired.” Huang originally created his website, Tianwang (www.6-4tianwang.com), as a bulletin board for messages about missing persons. He was first arrested in June 2000, on the eve of the 11th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, for posting articles on the site that he had obtained from dissident organisations based abroad. He was finally sentenced on 9 May 2003 to five years in prison on a charge of “trying to overthrow state authority” under articles 103 and 105 of the criminal code. His wife, who had not seen him since his arrest, was not notified about the hearing in which the verdict and sentence were announced. ------------------------------ Timeline - 10 June 2008: Huang Qi is arrested in Chengdu at 7 p.m. by three people who bundle him and two other dissidents into a car. The municipal police say they know nothing about their arrests. - 16 June 2008: The authorities say he is suspected of illegally possessing state secrets. - 18 July 2008: He is charged with illegally possessing state secrets. - 14 January 2009: He receives a copy of his indictment. - 2 February 2009: His wife and his lawyers are told that his trial will begin the next day. - 3 February 2009: The trial is postponed as the authorities did not give his lawyers enough warning. ----------------------------------- Read “Huang Qi did what any Chinese citizen would have done in his place” Watch Liu Xiaobo before being arrested