The trial was held in secret in the Chengdu Intermediate Court in SichuanProvince. Family members were not allowed to attend and no verdict orsentencing date was released. In China, however, criminal cases brought totrial usually result in a guilty verdict.

Huang Qi was publisher of the Tianwang Web site (www.6-4tianwang.com), which featured articles about pro-democracyactivism in China, the independence movement in the Xinjiang UighurAutonomous Region, and the banned spiritual group Falun Gong. He wasarrested on June 3, 2000, and later charged with subversion. "Huang Qi's prosecution violates China's own Criminal Procedure Code as wellas international human rights law," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper."CPJ calls for his unconditional release, and urges the Chinese governmentto stop its efforts to stifle free expression on the Internet."

The U.S.-based Internet news service Boxun News reported yesterday that ZengLi, Huang's wife, went to the court on August 14 but was prevented fromentering. She took a picture of her husband as he entered the court, but herfilm was confiscated.

Huang's trial was postponed several times this year, in an apparent effortto avoid international attention to human rights abuses during Beijing's bidto host the 2008 Olympic Games. Meanwhile, the Tianwang site has been hostedby a U.S. server since April 2000 and remains accessible.

Huang is one of 14 people in China who have been arrested for publishing ordistributing information on the Internet since 1998, according to CPJresearch.

For more information about press freedom conditions in China, visit. CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organizationthat works to safeguard press freedom around the world.

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