Bloggers who denounced gang-rape now face up to 10 years in prison

August 12 2009 Reporters Without Borders is concerned to learn that more serious charges have been brought against three bloggers and activists who have been held since 26 June in the southwestern province of Fujian for reporting that a young woman died after being gang-raped in February 2008 and that some of the rape participants had links with local officials. The three detainees – Fan Yanqiong, Wu Huaying and You Jingyou – were originally charged with defamation, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. But the charges were changed on 31 July to “false allegations with intent to harm,” for which the jail term is three to ten years. They currently being held in the Mawei district prison. Reporters Without Borders is also worried that, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), two of the three bloggers, Fan Yanqiong, a cosigner of Charter 08, and Wu Huaying, both women, have been mistreated. CHRD says Wu was handcuffed and interrogated for more than 30 hours while Fan was forced to defecate in her cell and has not received appropriate treatment for her kidney and heart ailments. Three other bloggers who were arrested for the same reason at the end of June – Chen Huanhui, his wife and Guo Baofeng (also known as Amoiist) – were released by the Mawei police on 31 July. Guo subsequently reported on his blog (how did i broke the jail) that he was released because of a campaign on the Chinese blogosphere. While held, he managed to send a message via Twitter on 16 July saying: “Pls, help me, I grasp the phone during police sleep.” As a result, Michael Anti, an influential blogger and former New York Times journalist, learned about his detention and, on 21 July, issued an appeal to Internet users to send postcards to his prison with the message: “Guo Baofeng, your mother is calling you home for dinner.” The appeal was so successful that it has since been repeated with other detained dissidents such as Xu Zhiyong and Huang Qi. ---------- July 20 2009 Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediate release of six bloggers based in the southeastern province of Fujian who were arrested at the end of last month on charges of defamation and high treason. Lawyers have told the press freedom organisation they are being held for reporting that a young woman died after being gang-raped in February 2008. “Reporting a woman’s rape and death is not grounds for arrest,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The police accuse these bloggers of defamation without saying who was defamed, and accuse them of high treason without offering any credible evidence of this. This is clearly an attempt by the Fujian authorities to cover up a tragic case in order to protect influential people.” The organisation added: “The fact that the detained bloggers are unable to see the lawyers of their choice reinforces the impression that they are the victims of a politically-motivated punishment.” The bloggers were arrested for reporting that, according to the initial statements of the nurses who treated her, Yan Xiaoling died on 11 February 2008 from a haemorrhage of the uterus after being raped “by at least five or six persons.” This is disputed by the local authorities, who insist that “no violence was inflicted on Yan Xiaoling.” Liu Xiaoyuan, a well-known Beijing-based lawyer who is representing one of the bloggers, You Jingyou, has reported on his own blog (http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_49daf0ea0100e4xs.html) that nurses at the Minqing district hospital in Fujian province explained the causes of Yan Xiaoling’s death to her father, Lin Xiuying. Despite the gravity of the case, the local authorities showed little interest in carrying out an investigation. The victim’s mother had to pay 5,000 RMB (500 euros) for an autopsy. According to the local authorities, the final report did not incriminate anyone because it concluded that she died as a result of an “extra-uterine pregnancy.” After the announcement of the autopsy results, the dead woman’s father turned to various courts without success and the case was finally reported by the bloggers. No one has been arrested for Yan Xiaoling’s rape and ensuing death but the bloggers said the leading suspect was a karaoke bar manager who is also an alleged pimp and drug dealer. The exact number of citizen journalists arrested in this case is not clear. Liu Xiaoyuan’s blog names six: his own client, You Jingyou, aged in his 40s; Fan Yanqiong, a young woman who being represented by Fujian-based lawyer Lin Zhong; Wu Huaying, represented by Lin Hongnan, another Fujian-based lawyer; Guo Baofeng, the young writer of the Amoiist.com blog; Chen Huanhui and Chen’s wife. One of the detained bloggers, Guo Baofeng, managed to send two short appeals for help in English via Twitter (http://twitter.com/amoiist) on 15 July: "I have been arrested by Mawei police, SOS" and "Pls help me, I grasp the phone during police sleep." There has been no other messages since. However, a Guo Baofeng support movement has recently emerged on the Internet. Click here for more information. Liu Xiaoyuan’s blog criticised the Ma Wei district police’s refusal on 15 July to allow the lawyers to see their clients. The police cited article 96 of criminal code section 2, which allows the police to forbid a lawyer to see a client in cases involving state secrecy.