[huridocs-tech] China: Internet activist Jiang Lijun formally arrested

HRIC Press Release
For Immediate Release
March 25, 2003

Human Rights in China (HRIC) has learned of the formal arrest of Jiang 
Lijun, an Internet activist who disappeared in November. According to 
HRIC's sources, Jiang is currently being detained in Qincheng Prison.

Sources say that Jiang is a close confederate of two other Internet 
activists currently in detention: Liu Di, the Beijing Normal University 
student also known as the Stainless Steel Mouse, and Li Yibin, publisher of 
the "Democracy and Freedom" Web site. Liu Di, Li Yibin, and another 
Internet activist, Ouyang Yi, were all secretly detained at the end of last 
year, and sources believe Jiang Lijun's arrest is part of the same case. 
Indeed, there is speculation that police regard Jiang as a leader among 
this group of Internet activists because of his age and relative level of 
influence.

Sources say that the day after Jiang's secret arrest on November 6, Public 
Security police took him directly to Beijing's Qincheng Prison, which 
historically has been the custody venue for prisoners in the most serious 
cases. Former Qincheng Prison detainees have included China's last Emperor, 
Puyi, and senior level Communist Party officials.

During the first four months Jiang Lijun was in detention, his wife, school 
teacher Yan Lina, was unable to obtain any information or legal 
documentation from the Public Security regarding the reason for Jiang's 
arrest. Finally on March 25, an official at Beijing's Public Security 
Bureau told Yan Lina that Jiang Lijun was formally arrested on December 14 
and charged with "incitement to subvert state power," but Yan Lina was not 
given a written copy of the charges. Yan Lina has retained the legal 
services of Beijing lawyer Mo Shaoping, who is well known for taking on 
high-profile dissident cases.

HRIC president Liu Qing observes, "The Chinese authorities" handling of the 
Jiang Lijun case shows how determined they are to stamp out any dissenting 
activity on the Internet. It is most regrettable that in their intolerance 
for free expression, the authorities see Chinese people's access to hi tech 
communications not as an opportunity, but as a threat.

HRIC deplores the official clampdown on political expression on the 
Internet, and calls on the Chinese government to release all Internet 
activists currently in custody.

For more information, contact:
Stacy Mosher (English) 212-268-9074
Liu Qing (Chinese) 212-239-4495


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