CHINA

Dissident journalist Chen Yanbin released after more than 14 years in prison (boxun.com)

Reporters Without Borders noted the release on 12 April, of Chen Yanbin, co-editor of the dissident review Tielu (Iron Currents), after 14 years and seven months imprisonment in Beijing. The journalist remains deprived of his civil and political rights for the next four years.

According to the Independent Chinese Pen Center (ICPC), a former student in communications and foreign languages at Beifang University, Chen, now aged 38, was able to return to his home in the capital after being released from Beijing' s prison no. 2.

He and a colleague Zhang Yafei were sentenced in March 1991 to 15 years in prison for " incitement to rebellion" and ¡°spreading counter-revolutionary propaganda¡± in an underground magazine that was distributed in Beijing.

¡°It is unforgivable that the authorities should only have allowed Chen Yanbin a few months reduction in sentence for an offence of opinion,¡± said Reporters Without Borders.

¡°Depriving him of his civil and political rights demonstrates that the government still seeks to prevent intellectuals from speaking out, particularly on the Beijing Spring of 1989¡±.

Chen was ill-treated in 1993 and put into solitary confinement after supporting a protest by prisoners who were refusing to work more than eight hours a day.

Elsewhere, cyberdissident Yan Jun was released on 4 April from a prison in Xian, north-west China. According to the ICPC, he has been able to return home and is in good health. Yan was arrested in April 2003 and sentenced to two years in prison on 8 December the same year for calling for a review of the sentence against students arrested after the June 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Dissident journalist Liu Jingsheng, who was freed on 27 November 2004, was on 18 April prevented from holding a press conference for the Information Centre for the rights of Chinese citizens, which he had just set up. Human Rights in China said the authorities had told him to shut down the organisation. Liu is also denied his civil and political rights after being released two and a half years before the end of his sentence.

The worldwide press freedom organisation pointed out that at least 31 journalists and 64 cyberdissidents and Internet-users are still imprisoned in China.

CHINE

Le journaliste dissident Chen Yanbin lib¨¦r¨¦ apr¨¨s plus de quatorze ans de prison

Reporters sans fronti¨¨res prend acte de la lib¨¦ration, le 12 avril, de Chen Yanbin, codirecteur de la revue dissidente Tielu, apr¨¨s quatorze ans et sept mois d¡¯emprisonnement ¨¤ P¨¦kin. Le journaliste est, par ailleurs, priv¨¦ pendant quatre ans de ses droits civils et politiques.

« Il est d¨¦plorable que les autorit¨¦s n¡¯aient accord¨¦ que quelques mois de remise de peine, pour un d¨¦lit d¡¯opinion de Chen Yanbin. La privation des droits civils et politiques d¨¦montre bien que le gouvernement souhaite toujours emp¨ºcher les intellectuels de s¡¯exprimer, notamment sur le printemps de P¨¦kin de juin 1989 », a d¨¦clar¨¦ Reporters sans fronti¨¨res. L¡¯organisation rappelle qu¡¯au moins 31 journalistes et 64 cyberdissidents et internautes sont toujours emprisonn¨¦s en Chine populaire.

Ancien ¨¦tudiant en communication et en langues ¨¦trang¨¨res de l'Universit¨¦ de Beifang, Chen Yanbin a pu regagner son domicile de P¨¦kin apr¨¨s avoir ¨¦t¨¦ relâch¨¦ de la prison n¡ã2 de la capitale.

En mars 1991, Chen Yanbin avait ¨¦t¨¦ condamn¨¦, avec son coll¨¨gue Zhang Yafei, ¨¤ une peine de quinze ans de prison pour "incitation ¨¤ la r¨¦bellion" et "diffusion de propagande contre-r¨¦volutionnaire" dans un magazine clandestin distribu¨¦ ¨¤ P¨¦kin.

En 1993, Chen Yanbin, aujourd¡¯hui âg¨¦ de 38 ans, a subi des mauvais traitements et a ¨¦t¨¦ plac¨¦ en cellule d'isolement en raison de son soutien ¨¤ un mouvement de protestation de prisonniers qui refusaient de travailler plus de huit heures par jour.

Par ailleurs, le cyberdissident Yan Jun a ¨¦t¨¦ lib¨¦r¨¦, le 4 avril dernier, d¡¯une prison du Xian (nord-ouest du pays). Selon le Independent Chinese Pen Center (ICPC), il a pu regagner son domicile et il se porterait bien. Arr¨ºt¨¦ en avril 2003, Yan Jun avait ¨¦t¨¦ condamn¨¦ ¨¤ deux ans de prison, le 8 d¨¦cembre suivant, pour avoir publi¨¦ sur Internet une demande de r¨¦vision du jugement ¨¤ l¡¯encontre des ¨¦tudiants interpell¨¦s lors du massacre de la place Tiananmen de juin 1989.

Enfin, le journaliste dissident Liu Jingsheng, lib¨¦r¨¦ le 27 novembre 2004, s¡¯est vu interdit d¡¯organiser, le 18 avril dernier, une conf¨¦rence de presse au nom du Centre d¡¯information des droits des citoyens chinois qu¡¯il venait de cr¨¦er. Selon Human Rights in China, les autorit¨¦s lui ont demand¨¦ de fermer cette organisation. Liu Jingsheng est ¨¦galement priv¨¦ de ses droits civils et politiques apr¨¨s une lib¨¦ration intervenue deux ans et demi avant le terme de sa peine.

Il y a plus de 14 ans, Reporters sans fronti¨¨res mettait en place le " parrainage " et appelait les m¨¦dias internationaux ¨¤ soutenir un journaliste emprisonn¨¦. Plus de 200 r¨¦dactions dans le monde soutiennent ainsi un confr¨¨re en demandant r¨¦guli¨¨rement sa lib¨¦ration aux autorit¨¦s concern¨¦es et en m¨¦diatisant sa situation pour que son cas ne tombe pas dans l'oubli.Chen Yanbin est ainsi soutenu par : Interm¨¦dia L¡¯hebdo, L¡¯Express, La Croix, La Lettre du cadre territorial ¨C www.territorial.fr, Le Progr¨¨s, RMC. (boxun.com)